Hold Me, Papa FCC
The FCC is out of control. They have a raging hard-on for the Internet, and are doing everything they can to gain regulatory control over it. Now, 31,000 customers who receive VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) service are getting cut off. See, the FCC thinks people are stupid and that people don’t know that when the power goes off, your internet goes off, or that sometimes… for random reasons… the internet cuts out. If you’ve been using the internet for more than a day, I think it’s bleeding obvious that the thing isn’t exactly 100% reliable. 404 Error, Page not found. “Could not connect to server.” “You have been disconnected.” Par for course, right? Well, the FCC has decided that unless you explicitly state that you are aware that the internet can sometimes be suddenly disconnected and that your VoIP service might not work all the time, they are going to shut your service off.
Thousands of VoIP users are set to be disconnected Monday under a recent FCC ruling regarding provisioning of enhanced 911 service on VoIP lines.
Under the FCC ruling, interconnected VoIP providers, that is those who provide connections to the public switched telephone network, allowing them to have normal telephone numbers, were required to notify all of their users about the availability of enhanced 911 service, and that the service may be unavailable during a power failure or loss of Internet connectivity.
[...]
[T]he ruling requires that subscribers respond back, affirming that they understand the limitations of 911 on VoIP. Anyone who has not responded as of August 29 is to have their service disconnected until such time as they do respond.
phone.ioerror.us: Many VoIP users to be disconnected August 29
So basically, the FCC is worried that you are unaware of VoIP’s instability, and as punishment, they’re cutting off your service. Fantastic.
Now this is pretty simple. You go to your carrier’s web site, you sign in, you fill out the E911 form, and you’re done. Go do it this weekend if you haven’t already.
phone.ioerror.us: Many VoIP users to be disconnected August 29
I say you go one step further. Yeah, sign the stupid form and get your service turned back on, but also write a letter to your Congressman telling him or her that you already have a daddy, and you don’t need the FCC to play his part.
The FCC is rapidly turning into the biggest piece of self-perpetuating governmental bureaucratic bloat around. They’re also becoming increasingly dangerous to your privacy. The delicious goodness of wiretaps, coming soon in internet form!
It’s clear you aren’t thinking about the children! We have to do this for the children!
Always for the children, isn’t it? I seem to recall 76 people dying from government-sponsored cyanide poisoning in Texas “for the children.” And let’s not forget the parents who are forced to give their kids fatally toxic anti-viral drugs… “for the children.” Or the thousands of children put into foster care because someone saw their parents disciplining them.
Sometimes I think the best thing that a bleeding heart liberal could do “for the children” is to start on an aspirin regiment.
Do they (FCC) think we’re morons? I can’t believe how stupid this is! GRRRRR!
What’s next? Cutting off my land line phone service because I didn’t sign a waiver saying “Yes, I know that if lightning strikes or if the wind blows really hard my phone might go down.”
Jesus people are stupid.
Rob:
It’s not a matter of people being stupid - it’s a matter of THE FCC[1] thinking people are stupid and need to be protected from themselves.
1. See also: FDA, DEA, IRS, NEA (the teachers’ one, not the artsy-fartsy crapfest, but while we’re at it…), etc.
Mark, you must have missed the sarcasm dripping off my comment.
Anyhow, the FCC announced today they’re pushing back the deadline to September 28th.
push the deadline? why don’t they just drop the whole thing? this is just moronic. but then again, they have to save face. so, i’ll give them that.
IO ERROR,
Nah, I was just piling on.
And yes, some people are this stupid… but not nearly as stupid as a policy that hurts everyone in an attempt to help those morons.
[...] Michael Heilemann presents an “Ode to Summer”. Brian finds a missing link in the “Google OS” theory. Khaled is hunting for a new mobile phone. Kafkaesquàposts an important message for new WordPress users. Michael Hampton launches Lunacy Unleashed, a blog devoted to his WordPress and Bad Behavior announcements and information. Jon is having great success with GoogleRumors. Craig celebrates his birthday. Chris provides a tutorial for how to create a coffee table art book. Angsuman briefly discusses Homeopathy. And, Mark ruminates on the FCC. [...]
d had to reset a particular breaker every morning for the last few weeks, and after they replaced the bad board causing that, my phone stopped going out. Funny, that.) Is the FCC going to shut off my phone service now? ( þ Tempus Fugit ) According to this post on blogging advice, Jon apparently didn’t think that this post wasn’t getting enough of a response. It’s well written, but I probably would’ve appreciated it more if I hadn