[1st-mile-nm] Fwd: Nebraska commission loses appeal on Internet call fees

[Marianne Granoff]

 From another list. FYI.

>Nebraska commission loses appeal on Internet call fees
>
>http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090501/ap_on_hi_te/ne_internet_calls_2
>
>By MARGERY A. GIBBS, Associated Press Writer
>Fri May 1, 2009 4:08PM EDT
>OMAHA, Neb.
>
>A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court 
>ruling exempting Internet phone service provider 
>Vonage Holdings Corp. from paying a state telephone fee.
>
>In an opinion released Friday, a three-member 
>panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals 
>rejected arguments from members of the Nebraska 
>Public Service Commission. The PSC had been 
>trying to force Vonage and its customers to pay 
>into the state's Universal Service Fund.
>
>All traditional phone companies pay into the 
>Universal Service Fund. But Voice over Internet 
>Protocol — or VoIP — providers such as Ho 
>Holmdel, N.J.-based Vonage say they provide an 
>information service rather than a telecommunications service.
>
>Traditional telephone providers have argued that 
>VoIP services should be subject to the same 
>oversight and fee requirements that they face.
>
>But VoIP providers say they should be classified 
>as a data service provider and left alone, much 
>as cable TV companies have been. Vonage offers 
>Internet voice service by leasing transmission 
>lines from telephone and cable companies.
>
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