This is a quote from FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell as he “applauded” the Supreme Courts decision to hear the case regarding the ongoing ISP-cable line dispute:
“The 9th Circuit’s decision would have grave consequences for the future and availability of high-speed Internet connections in this country,” he said in a statement. “High-speed Internet connections are not telephones.”
And people wonder why I loathe our purposefully ignorant government officials. It is a sad day when the Chairman of the FCC doesn’t weigh the importance of a technology like Voice over IP and doesn’t have the foresight to care what mediums it can be transported on. Go back to your office and fire up your ballpoint Mike Powell – have ’em put in a few more load coils. I’d be willing to bet the FCC’s Network Admins have already made sure your calls are IP based. But then again that would involve the government saving money… if anyone has inside info on this I’d love to know.
Another sad thing is the Geritol Gang (the Supreme Court) will probably not have the ability to weigh this technology into their ruling. “You mean people can make phone calls on the interweb?”