Date: Sun, 14 May 2000 14:15:02 -0500
Reply-To: Bill Johnson <bjohns@DTX.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Bill Johnson <bjohns@DTX.NET>
Subject: Fw: UPDATE - IP TELEPHONY REGULATION IN US - HR 1291: SOS
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Pulver" <jeff@Pulver.COM>
SOS: UPDATE - IP TELEPHONY REGULATION IN US - HR 1291: SOS
( http://pulver.com/reports/helpstophr1291.html )
Hi There,
As you know from my earlier email, Congress will vote Tuesday on HR 1291,
which permits the FCC to regulate IP telephony.
Some of you have asked whether this is another hoax about regulation or
taxation of the Internet. **THIS IS NO HOAX*. The original bill, as
introduced, said nothing about IP telephony. See
( http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c106:H.R.1291.IH: ). The new
bill, amended only last week without any public hearings on this issue and
scheduled for the kind of vote that is limited to "noncontroversial"
items, has a new section that distinguishes the use of the Internet for
voice communications from other uses of the Internet and practically
invites the FCC to regulate Internet telephony and impose old-fashioned
access charges even on PC-to-PC applications.
( See http://com-notes.house.gov/5102000full/amendment1.pdf )
I know that everyone is weary of all the hoaxes, but this is for real.
The time to act is now. Call +1.202.224.3121 and email your
Representative and the House Leadership ( see
http://www.house.gov/writerep ). Get your friends and colleagues to call
+1.202.224.3121 and email their representatives as well.
If you are from outside the United States your voice is also very, very
important. Please email: Speaker Hastert: speaker@mail.house.gov,
House Commerce Committee Chairman Tom Bliley, tom.bliley@mail.house.gov
and House Commerce Communications Subscommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin,
billy.tauzin@mail.house.gov and tell them that HR 1291 should not be
passed. The fact is that if the HR 1291 is passed, it will set in motion
an opportunity for your country's government to re-evaluate its position
on the regulation of IP Telephony.
There really is very little time. We have to keep the Bells from pulling
a real fast one. By the time most people read this email, we'll have less
than 24 hours to make an impact. At the risk of sounding incendiary,
together, we have to make the Los Alamos fire look like a controlled burn
if we are going to pull this off. Word has to spread very quickly and we
need your help to motivate people to write or call the Hill to act just as
quickly.
Please contact your local media outlets and inform them about HR 1291.
( http://pulver.com/reports/helpstophr1291.html ) In order to stop HR
1291, we need to get as much National attention focused on this as
possible by the morning of Tuesday, May 16th.
Kind regards,
Jeff
