Has anyone heard this or it is another cyber-urban myth?
) Your local telephone company has filed a proposal with the
) FCC to impose per minute charges for your internet service.
) They contend that your usage has or will hinder the operation of the
)
) ---snip ---
)
) FCC E Mail address isp@fcc.gov
)
) This is really important. If we have to pay for e-mail , the cost is
) going to skyrocket.
) It's about the only thing now that is cost-effective.
) Please make your opinions known to the FCC.
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Factsheets/ispfact.html:
[...]
Please Note: There is no open comment period in this proceeding. If
you have recently seen a message on the Internet stating that in
response to a request from local telephone companies, the FCC is
requesting comments to <isp@fcc.gov> by February 1998, be aware that
this information is inaccurate.
[...]
Q: Is the FCC considering allowing local phone companies to impose
access charges on ISPs?
should pay current access charges, and more generally on how Internet
and interstate information services that use local telephone networks
should be treated. The Commission concluded on May 7, 1997 that ISPs
should not be subject to interstate access charges. There is currently
no open comment period on this issue.
[...]
Q: Is this the "FCC modem tax" that has been floating around the
Internet in various forms for several years?
service providers to pay interstate access charges, which at that time
were significantly higher than they are today. The 1987 proposal was
abandoned in 1988. The current Access Reform proceeding is entirely
separate.
The only positive point is that this will either drive the private-line
market, drive the pcs wireless market or cause an absolute fragmentation
of the communications grid... no more data traffic across POTS period.
That day will come some day due to limitations in line speed. Someone
just does not realize they are accelerating the out moding of their job.
M.
This is probably last years news, unless something has changed...
This was the telco response to "Free Internet Long Distance" Internet Phone
Service ads that some ISP's ran. The telco's complained to the FCC that
the ISP's "weren't paying" for phone service and were unregulated carriers.
The FCC denied the requests, at least, so I thought.
The temptation to equate this with other "no pay" claims resisted with some
difficulty. 
--Dean
Yes, this is last years news, but it is also very important to watch this
issue to make sure something like this does not go into effect. People
like the ACTA are pumping large amounts of money into legal battles. The
fight is sill going on by www.von.org and others. Internet Telephony has
already been banned in places like India where it is illegal to use PC
based Internet Telephony or PSTN/IP gateways.