[78493] in North American Network Operators' Group
RE: US slaps fine on company blocking VoIP
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Vivien M.)
Sat Mar 5 23:57:56 2005
From: "Vivien M." <vivienm@dyndns.org>
To: "'Robert Blayzor'" <rblayzor@inoc.net>,
"'Bill Nash'" <billn@billn.net>
Cc: <nanog@nanog.org>
Date: Sat, 5 Mar 2005 23:55:21 -0500
In-Reply-To: <4229130C.7020904@inoc.net>
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Errors-To: owner-nanog@merit.edu
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-nanog@merit.edu [mailto:owner-nanog@merit.edu] On=20
> Behalf Of Robert Blayzor
> Sent: March 4, 2005 9:02 PM
> To: Bill Nash
> Cc: nanog@nanog.org
> Subject: Re: US slaps fine on company blocking VoIP
>=20
>=20
>=20
> Bill Nash wrote:
> > At the root of it, it's deliberate anti-competitive behavior, and=20
> > that's what the fine is for. I'm generally fine to have the=20
> government=20
> > stay out of the internet as much as possible, but this move was the=20
> > correct one, as it was on behalf of the end consumer. It's not the=20
> > choice of port blocking that matters, it's the intent.
>=20
>=20
> Wait a minute, since when is the Internet service I provide=20
> regulated by ANY entity? It's not, therefore I can run the=20
> network any way I see fit. If customers don't like it, they=20
> can choose another ISP; if they can't choose another ISP, not=20
> my problem, I'm not a regulated entity, you get my service or=20
> none at all.
>=20
> While I don't run my network with that attitude, I certainlly=20
> have the right to.
You do? Since when do you (or any ISP, which is fundamentally a =
corporation
like any other) have an exemption to antitrust, fair competition, and =
every
other law regulating business practices?
Just because you don't have a regulator setting prices and/or quality
standards for your product, like you have in all kinds of sectors =
(ranging
from electricity to automobiles to just about everything), does not mean =
you
are free to run your business "any way you see fit".
While you're at it, why not say that since you're an unregulated =
business
that can "run your network any way [you] like", you can prioritize =
traffic
from customers of one ethnic group rather than another? In most sane
jurisdictions, a court would tell you that everybody using your =
"Whatever"
service and paying you $Y/month for it must get the same quality of =
service
whether they have black or white skin.
Would you scream on NANOG about that, too, and claim that your right to =
run
your network any way you see fit is denied?=20
And guess what, to get back to this issue? Ask an antitrust lawyer. If
company A has a quasi-monopoly (or is dominant) in product X, and =
company A
and B both provide product Y, which requires product X (at least for =
company
B's product Y to work), and company A deliberately acts to make sure =
that
company B's product Y cannot work with the product X from company A, =
they're
eventually going to get in trouble. That's the situation here. You need =
IP
transit to do VoIP. Some company with a dominant position in IP transit =
that
also provides phone service is preventing somebody else's VoIP service =
from
working with their IP transit to product their own phone service =
business.
That, under most reasonable fair competition statutes, would be =
prohibited.
"Regulated" industry or not.
Vivien=20
(as always, speaking for myself, not any organizations that may appear =
in
the headers)
