Q. What are the Skype TechPolicy issues?
I’m heading out to a technology public policy conference today. Tuning my ear to listen for new issues. Some already on the Skype plate… Mobile Carterfone ? freedom to use the device of your choice on a mobile network Mobile Net Neutrality ? US mobile carriers are blocking Skype voice calls from data services. See iPhone and Windows Mobile store policies written by carriers. Net Neutrality ? ISPs banned Skype. Should that be OK? P2P Freedom ? As Skype shows, p2p has legitimate uses yet copyright industry groups draft laws banning the technology. Rural Access ? Skype users needs cheap, capacious, ubiquitous, expandable broadband to the home and office. Telco Antitrust ? The big mobile, landline, and cable carriers are very profitable, even in a horrid economy. Evidence of undue market power? Privacy ? The US government is funding research to intercept Skype calls and uncover your Skype contacts E911 ? When does Skype become responsible for helping people call emergency services? Unwanted Attention ? Telemarketing, spam, spim, spit ? we hate it all. What is government’s role? Carbon Footprint ? Can Skype-like communication lower our personal and national environmental impact? What can Skype engineers do to lower it further? See today’s Free Press analysis Dismantling Digital Deregulation: Toward a National Broadband Strategy (pdf). DDD suggests the US: Review every major FCC decision since the 1996 Act and reverse those that failed to promote broadband competition, openness and access. Congress should aid this process with a series of oversight hearings. Develop a data-driven standard to identify local areas where broadband providers are abusing their market power, and use the tools in the 1996 Act to promote competition. Expand and codify the FCC’s "Internet Policy Statement" into permanent Net Neutrality rules. Congress should pass a Net Neutrality law to place these protections in the Communications Act. Reclassify broadband as a "telecommunications service," which will allow the FCC to promote competition by reinstating open access rules where appropriate. Transition the Universal Service Fund from supporting telephone service to supporting broadband infrastructure. Congress should aid this transition through oversight and legislation to provide a clear path for FCC action. Produce an honest assessment of whether broadband is being deployed to all Americans in a timely fashion, as required by the 1996 Act. Conduct a thorough review of policies governing competition and pricing in the "special access" and "middle-mile" or "enterprise" markets — the broadband lines that connect cell phone towers and local area networks to the Internet. Open more of the public airwaves to unlicensed use and promote shared spectrum for both low-power urban and high-power rural uses. Congress should instruct the FCC and the NTIA to identify spectrum that could be utilized. Offline for a the afternoon, the better to pay attention and mingle. tags: public policy, skype, carterfone, Mobile Net Neutrality, iPhone, apple, microsoft, netneutrality, p2p, fcc, access, broadband, monopoly, antitrust, privacy, e911, telemarketing, spam, spim, spit, deregulation, competition, openness, spectrum, NTIACall me at +1-510-455-4384, Skype me, follow @skypejournal and @Phil Wolff.
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