[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 83 (Tuesday, June 27, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        INTERNET TELEPHONY ACCESS CHARGE PROHIBITION ACT OF 2000

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 27, 2000

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation to 
permanently prohibit ``per minute,'' or time sensitive, access charges 
on Internet telephone calls. Mr. Speaker, telephone calls over the 
Internet--often referred to as ``IP telephony'' or ``VOIP (voice over 
Internet protocol)''--has a bright future for telecommunications 
competitors and consumers but only if we succeed in treating it from a 
regulatory standpoint in a way that is consistent with the flat rate 
nature of the Internet itself.
  The legislation I am introducing today prevents per minute access 
charges on the providers of Internet telephone service. This 
prohibition would cover any per minute access charges irrespective of 
whether such access charges are levied for the purpose of universal 
service funding or for any underlying cost of providing such access.
  A little history of how we got here I believe is important. Back in 
the late 1980s, the Reagan FCC was poised to abandon the access charge 
exemption that so-called ``enhanced service providers'' such as Prodigy 
and Compuserve had enjoyed. I convened hearings as then-
Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman to battle any per minute 
access charge on this nascent information industry. At a Boston field 
hearing in October of 1987, I argued to the Chairman of the FCC that it 
was vital to nurture and foster the development of this new industry 
and that the resulting rate shock from per minute fees would destroy 
the economic base of the information providers. I was greatly concerned 
that the FCC proposal would put this exciting service out of reach 
financially for millions of consumers.
  Successfully defeating that Reagan FCC proposal was one of the key 
decisions in the development of the Internet. In other words, it was 
not by accident that the Internet has developed largely as a flat rate 
medium, it was by design--but not without a battle.
  Recently, the House of Representatives approved a bill (H.R. 1291) 
that purportedly was crafted to address a ``threat'' that Congress or 
the FCC was going to impose access charges on the Internet. No such 
threat exists. Nevertheless many Members of Congress had received 
letters--generated by rumors on the Internet--about a bill that would 
impose a ``modem tax,'' or a per minute fee, on email or consumers' 
general Internet use. This fictitious bill--sponsored by the equally 
fictitious Representative Schnell--allegedly aimed to impose new fees 
on Internet use.
  The bill that the House approved however, didn't technically prohibit 
access charges on the Internet--the bill only prohibits access charge 
fees that would support universal service. It did not prohibit per 
minute access charges that could be assessed by local phone companies 
for recovering access costs that did not go into any universal service 
support mechanism. Most shocking, however, is the fact that the bill 
includes a legislative ``green light'' to the FCC to support per minute 
fees on internet telephone calls by specifically exempting IP telephony 
from H.R. 1291's (albeit incomplete) access charge prohibition.
  This big ``legislative wink'' that the bill's supporters give to the 
FCC, i.e., to look at access charges on Internet telephony providers 
may accelerate and embolden efforts by local phone companies to 
pressure the FCC into permitting local phone companies to assess per 
minute charges on IP telephony providers. Congress should not, in my 
view, be expressly and overtly exempting Internet telephone calls from 
the current access charge exemption.
  Moreover, my legislation to close the IP telephone exemption 
contained in H.R. 1291 would also mitigate against the creation of a 
potentially huge privacy issue. Who is going to monitor your Internet 
usage to see which of your bits are email bits, which are websurfing 
bits, and which are bits representing telephone calls?
  The bill I introduce today is designed to remedy this situation. It 
is based upon the amendment that I offered in the House Commerce 
Committee to prohibit the FCC from authorizing per minute charges on 
Internet telephony. I believe we need to safeguard the flat rate nature 
of the Internet for consumers. Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues in the 
House will look favorably upon this policy.

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