Volume II

Issue : 8: April 15, 2004

• U.S. Broadband Industry May be Forced to Share Following Cable Modem Decision
• UN E-commerce Group Releases Revised Draft Convention on the Use of Data Messages in International Contracts
• Supreme Court of Canada to Hear Criminal Spam Case
• U.S. Senate Bill Introduced to Grant Federal Government Exclusive Regulatory Authority Over VoIP
• U.S. Advocacy Groups Lobby FCC to Protect VoIP from Regulations
• CRTC Releases Preliminary View on VoIP Services
• PGA Tour Wins Battle over the Internet Posting of Real-Time Golf Scores
• British Columbia and Alberta Exempt from PIPEDA
• Canadian Privacy Commissioner's E-kit for Businesses
• Eight European Nations Fail to Implement the E-Privacy Directive
• Google Mail Alleged to Violate European Privacy Laws
• Florida Court Orders RIAA to Bring Individual Suits against Alleged File Swappers
• Federal Government Called Upon to Ban Internet Pharmacies
• Internet Pharmacy Sues Health Canada

Home > Volume II > Issue 8: April 15, 2004 > U.S. Broadband Industry May be Forced to Share Following Cable Modem Decision

U.S. Broadband Industry May be Forced to Share Following Cable Modem Decision

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) failed in its bid to have the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (California) rehear its October 2003 decision declaring that cable networks are telecommunications services rather than information services. The declaration opens the door to local government regulation which may force the networks to share broadband access lines.

Telecommunications service providers such as local telephone service companies are required by federal law to allow others to lease their lines to offer competitive phone and Internet services. In contrast information service providers have been exempt from such sharing following a 2002 FCC vote. The Court of Appeals decision is a serious blow to efforts by the FCC to shield the cable industry to promote growth and investment upgrading networks to offer high-speed cable internet services. Phone companies have argued the FCC ruling left them at a disadvantage as they too have invested heavily to provide high-speed DSL services. The FCC is considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

For more information, please click:
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-245687A1.pdf
http://news.com.com/2100-1034_3-5183423.html
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/8332306.htm