Saying it's the government's burden to prove regulation is needed, rather than the innovator's burden to prove it's not, Federal Communications Commission Michael Powell has told reporters at the World Economic Conference that he has no intention of regulating Internet telephony.
"It is not a telephone service," Powell said. "It is a voice application, completely indistinguishable from any other kind of application that can run on an IP network. If you're going to say to me that (voice-over Internet protocol) is something that needs regulation, then you're going to have to explain to me why e-mail isn't also, or streaming video or instant messaging is not also."
Powell's remarks came at a time when voice-over Internet protocol (VoIP) companies are seeing rapid growth over recent months, with customers embracing lower-cost online communications whose quality, according to Reuters, compares favorably to traditional telephones.
"It's probably the most significant paradigm shift in the entire history of modern communications, since the invention of the telephone," said Powell, who said he had no intention of any Internet telephony regulation before someone shows him the legitimate need to regulate it.
"What's my approach? The most important thing is that the burden should rest on government to prove why it needs a similar regulatory environment, and not on innovators to prove why not," he told the reporters at the conference. "This is one area where we as regulators should wait for real demonstrable evidence of harm before accepting an invitation to intervene," Powell said.
In 2003, Minnesota tried imposing telephone regulations on VoIP provider Vonage, but a federal judge ruled last fall that Vonage was an information service and not a telecommunications service. The judge also held that state regulation contravenes Congressional intent to keep the Internet regulation-free.
