ABSTRACT
On March 4, 1996, America's Carriers Telecommunication Association (ACTA), a trade group representing primarily medium and small long-distance telephone companies, filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) a controversial Petition for Declaratory Ruling, Special Relief and Institution of a Rulemaking. I ACTA alleged that providers of Internet telephony software operate as uncertified and unregulated common carriers2 in contravention of Commission Rules and Regulations. The trade association suggested the need for regulatory parity: FCC jurisdiction and common carrier regulation of companies selling Internet telephony, because conventional telephone service providers face such government oversight. ACTA also warned that increasing use of Internet resources for
Much of the extensive opposition to the ACTA Petition predictably objected to FCC regulation of software enterprises never before subject to Commission oversight. Such opponents argued that the FCC cannot impose common carrier regulation, because Internet telephony constitutes enhanced services under the Commission's Computer Inquiries4 and information services5 as defined by the Telecommunications Act of 1996.6 Others 7 allefed that definitions contained in the revised Communications Act-access software, access software providers9 and interactive computer servicelO--cover the functionality involved in Internet telephony and expressly qualify for exclusion from the common carrier classification. I I
Beyond the immediate question of jurisdiction and regulatory scope, the ACTA Petition raises several broader issues largely ignored by the commenting parties:
What, if any, steps should the FCC undertake to eliminate regulatory asymmetry, that is, different and inconsistent regulatory treatment of competing enterprises and services,12 where doing so would obligate it to assert jurisdiction and to regulate a previously unregulated industry, as opposed to the typical situation where fostering regulatory symmetry would result in fewer or eliminated regulations?
