I have received many links and news article from BitWise users regarding the current court cases involving Voice over IP (VOIP) software and whether or not the states can regulate VOIP. Last week, in an appeal, VOIP has been ruled a data service and cannot be regulated by the states. Unfortunately, it's not over yet as some states want to appeal to the Supreme Court. Link
The two-page decision was issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in St. Louis. The original decision in support of VoIP provider Vonage was issued in October of 2003 by Federal District Court Judge Michael J. Davis, after the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) told Vonage it would have to pony up fees to support the state's 911 services. The PUC also told Vonage it would be required to obtain telephony company business licenses to do business as a telephone operator in Minnesota.In the appeals case, the PUC petitioned the court to determine whether a recent FCC ruling pre-empted the Minnesota court decision. In Tuesday's decision, the Appeals Court said the FCC supports the lower court decision.
Because Internet telephoning is not considered to be a telephone service, according to the court decisions, states and municipalities will likely be blocked from regulating--and taxing--the service.
While a final decision could still be years away, this is good news for any software that uses any VOIP technology, like BitWise. Even though its not clear what the extent of such regulations could be, anyone using any VOIP software can rest a bit more easily, at least for now.