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October 08, 2003
Federal Court Issues Injunction Against MPUC on VoIP
A few weeks ago, I noted that Wisconsin had moves to regulate VoIP provider 8x8. The Minnesota PUC had made a similar move against Vonage. Today a federal court issued a permanent injunction against a recent ruling by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission to regulate Voice over IP provider Vonage as a telephone company. This is a huge win for VoIP companies (at least in Minnesota) since it gives them a significant pricing advantage over traditional CLECs and ILECs. Here's why:
A traditional ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) or CLEC (competitive local exchange carrier) has to pay numerous fees by regulation including universal service fund, e911, etc. Altogether these add up to something like $10 per primary line. This cost is, of course passed onto the customer. One reason that Vonage and 8x8 are able to offer such smoking deals is they don't pay these fees. I've taken to calling these guys NLECs (non-local exchange carriers); maybe there's a better name for them.
Here's a few links to stories on the ruling. A complete rationale for the ruling won't be available until Friday. If you see it before I do, give me a shout.
You can bet the RBOCs (Regional Bell Operating Companies) will be challenging this, so expect an appeal.
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Quicksilver Wiki
I've been a huge Neal Stephenson fan since I read Crytonomicon. Since that time, I've added Snow Crash and Diamond Age to my list of books that have influenced my thinking and led me down new paths. Consequently, I was quite excited to see Quicksilver, Stephenson's newest book, at Borders last week.
The book is a work of historical fiction, something of a break for Stephenson, set during the 1600's amid a period of unbelievable scientific awakening. The protagonist is Daniel Waterhouse, a friend of both Newton and Lieniz, who were hotly contesting the origins and directions of Calculus at that time. I can't tell you how it ends, since I'm only about one-third of the way through, but I can tell you I'm enjoying the book very much.
Something that's added to my enjoyment of the book is a Quicksilver Wiki where Stephenson and others make frequent and interested posts about the book. One example is these page annotations that explain or expand on certain interesting points and this page further explaining the cryptosystems in Quicksilver. This is an excellent addition to an excellent book.