[aclug-L] congress will ban any modem tax

[Michael Holmes <maholmes@xxxxxxxxxx>]

This NEWS.COM (http://www.news.com/) story has been sent to you from  ..

Message from sender:
   Mike: FYI  Even though it was mostly rumor-based, Congress is going to 
see that there will be no Modem tax. Great, eh? Dick
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Congress to push laws against Net fees
By John Borland
March 18, 1999, 4:45 p.m. PT
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C33995%2C00.html?sas.mail

 Several members of Congress are planning new legislation that would 
officially bar federal regulators from imposing new charges on Internet 
access.

  In a letter to Federal Communications Commission chairman William Kennard 
today, a group of GOP legislators asked him to support legislation 
definitively barring his agency from regulating Internet fees.

  "To end this uncertainty once and for all, and to stop the thousands of 
emails and phone calls from concerned Internet users," the group wrote, "we 
are writing to ask you to work with us on legislation?to make it clear that 
the FCC will not regulate the Internet or impose access charges on Internet 
service."

  The issue has been a thorny one for Kennard and the rest of the 
Commission. Several times over the past few years, rumors have spread that 
the FCC or Congress was about to impose new per-minute charges on the Net, 
or a "modem tax."



  The issue came to a head again several weeks ago, when a decision over 
regulation of ISPs calls stirred up the same talk again.

  Several times over the following week, Kennard tried to dispel Net users' 
fears in a series of speeches and public statements.

  "These rumors are nothing but    scare tactics of the worst kind, preying 
on the fears of the American people and bringing uncertainty to this 
growing market," he said in a speech last week. "Let me say this as clearly 
as I can. As long as I am chairman of the FCC, we will not regulate the 
Internet."

  As strong as that statement was, the group of GOP legislators--some of 
whom are leaders in an effort to scale back the FCC's regulatory 
powers--now want more assurances.

  Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) will introduce a bill "as soon as next week" 
that would push the rollout of broadband services, and would prevent the 
FCC from tightly regulating these new access services, a spokeswoman said 
today. The details of the bill are still being worked out, she added.

  On the House side, Congressional sources said that no specific bill was 
in the works, but that the legislators would likely use Kennard's response 
to the letter to guide them in drafting legislation.

  Despite Kennard's denial of any intention to impose new Net regulations, 
the persistent rumors give the FCC's critics another opportunity to call 
for checks on the agency's power.

   "Without such a clarification, there will always be a reason for 
Internet users to suspect that FCC regulation could be right around the 
corner," the legislators wrote.




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