[178393] in North American Network Operators' Group
One FCC neutrality elephant: disabilities compliance
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Mel Beckman)
Fri Feb 27 13:31:07 2015
X-Original-To: nanog@nanog.org
From: Mel Beckman <mel@beckman.org>
To: "<nanog@nanog.org>" <nanog@nanog.org>
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2015 18:06:47 +0000
Errors-To: nanog-bounces@nanog.org
http://www.fcc.gov/guides/telecommunications-access-people-disabilities
http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/title-iv-ada
Section 255 of Title II applies to Internet providers now, as does section =
225 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These rules have such unb=
elievable broad statements as:
"Accessibility and usability must be assessed for individual products and s=
ervices. Accessibility features that can be incorporated into the design of=
products or services with very little or no difficulty or expense must be =
put in each and every product or service."
"...require network architecture to be designed in a way that does not hind=
er access by people with disabilities. Network architecture covers the publ=
ic switched telephone network, and includes hardware or software databases =
associated with routing telecommunications services."
"Telecommunications service providers and equipment manufacturers must prov=
ide the FCC with the name and contact information of the person (or persons=
) in their companies who are authorized to resolve accessibility complaints=
."
"Each common carrier providing telephone voice transmission services shall,=
not later than 3 years after July 26, 1990, provide in compliance with the=
regulations prescribed under this section, throughout the area in which it=
offers service, telecommunications relay services"
"The term "telecommunications relay services" means telephone transmission =
services that provide the ability for an individual who has a hearing impai=
rment or speech impairment to engage in communication by wire or radio with=
a hearing individual in a manner that is functionally equivalent to the ab=
ility of an individual who does not have a hearing impairment or speech imp=
airment to communicate using voice communication services by wire or radio.=
Such term includes services that enable two-way communication between an i=
ndividual who uses a TDD or other nonvoice terminal device and an individua=
l who does not use such a device."
Many news stories have been published about how ADA was exploited by scamme=
rs to extort money out of bricks-and-mortar businesses. Now these scams are=
coming to the ISP biz.
http://www.adaabuse.com
