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Definitions from US Code Title 47: "(1) Advanced communications services The term “advanced communications services” means— (A) interconnected VoIP service; (B

Definitions from US Code Title 47: "(1) Advanced communications services The term “advanced communications services” means— (A) interconnected VoIP service; (B) non-interconnected VoIP service; (C) electronic messaging service; and (D) interoperable video conferencing service." "(11) Common carrier The term “common carrier” or “carrier” means any person engaged as a common carrier for hire, in interstate or foreign communication by wire or radio or interstate or foreign radio transmission of energy, except where reference is made to common carriers not subject to this chapter; but a person engaged in radio broadcasting shall not, insofar as such person is so engaged, be deemed a common carrier." "(24) Information service The term “information service” means the offering of a capability for generating, acquiring, storing, transforming, processing, retrieving, utilizing, or making available information via telecommunications, and includes electronic publishing, but does not include any use of any such capability for the management, control, or operation of a telecommunications system or the management of a telecommunications service." I'm not a lawyer, but consider myself well grounded in tech and telecom, but reading these definitions I'm kind of at a loss. In common law, my understanding is that a "common carrier" is someone that makes transport services available to the public. These can be physical, such as shipping a crate, or technological (telecom) in nature. By that inference, transporting packets of information is essentially same as transporting normal packages. Unfortunately, the "by wire or radio or interstate or foreign radio transmission of energy" is so period-specific that one could argue that it doesn't apply and the (24) Information Services is so broad and vague, it could practically be applied to anything. One interesting bit, which makes me think that there is hope, is the definition of advanced communications, that include both VoIP and messaging services. Sadly, their definitions are not that broad...

rayiner 13y ago
The definition of "common carrier" implies a lot more than just "carries goods for the public." For example, common carrier status implies regulation, often of rates, and liability on the part of carriers for any losses. In the world of telecom, it represents a whole host of regulations. For example, telephone carriage is taxed to fund something called the Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes infrastructure development of telecom service to rural areas. One of the key purposes of the 1996 telecom act was to deregulate the industry to the extent that it was possible. The FCC consequently decided to treat internet service as an "information service" under the Act, so as to avoid subjecting it to all the regulations applicable to "common carriers." So while you could argue that modern ISPs resemble common carriers in certain ways, one of the ways they do not is that they are relatively unregulated, and there was a lot of intent and purpose behind the decision to treat them that way.
- sologoub 13y ago
  While there might have been reason to not regulate in the past, schemes like the ones advocated by Verizon really strike me as questionable. In 1996, we had to worry about these networks really catching on. In 2014, it's hard to imagine not having them. Consider a simple ad supported news site. It may run ads hosted on hundreds of sources. When the page loads, the browser requests individual images from different sources. If some are not paying the verizon tax or not paying enough, the page loads slower or with broken content. This is pretty foundational stuff. It really isn't all that different from having different audio quality in a phone call depending if the local exchange operator was paid extra or not. As the result, it seems to me that classification and the additional regulation is warranted.
tinalumfoil 13y ago
common carrier n. - an individual, a company or a public utility (like municipal buses) which is in the regular business of transporting people and/or freight. freight n. - Goods carried by a vessel or vehicle, especially by a commercial carrier; cargo. Packets are neither classified as people nor freight.
- jackgavigan 13y ago
  They could be classified as freight ... if you implemented RFC 1149 using FedEx instead of avian carriers.

rayiner 13y ago

The definition of "common carrier" implies a lot more than just "carries goods for the public." For example, common carrier status implies regulation, often of rates, and liability on the part of carriers for any losses. In the world of telecom, it represents a whole host of regulations. For example, telephone carriage is taxed to fund something called the Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes infrastructure development of telecom service to rural areas. One of the key purposes of the 1996 telecom act was to deregulate the industry to the extent that it was possible. The FCC consequently decided to treat internet service as an "information service" under the Act, so as to avoid subjecting it to all the regulations applicable to "common carriers." So while you could argue that modern ISPs resemble common carriers in certain ways, one of the ways they do not is that they are relatively unregulated, and there was a lot of intent and purpose behind the decision to treat them that way.

sologoub 13y ago
While there might have been reason to not regulate in the past, schemes like the ones advocated by Verizon really strike me as questionable. In 1996, we had to worry about these networks really catching on. In 2014, it's hard to imagine not having them. Consider a simple ad supported news site. It may run ads hosted on hundreds of sources. When the page loads, the browser requests individual images from different sources. If some are not paying the verizon tax or not paying enough, the page loads slower or with broken content. This is pretty foundational stuff. It really isn't all that different from having different audio quality in a phone call depending if the local exchange operator was paid extra or not. As the result, it seems to me that classification and the additional regulation is warranted.

tinalumfoil 13y ago

common carrier n. - an individual, a company or a public utility (like municipal buses) which is in the regular business of transporting people and/or freight. freight n. - Goods carried by a vessel or vehicle, especially by a commercial carrier; cargo. Packets are neither classified as people nor freight.

jackgavigan 13y ago
They could be classified as freight ... if you implemented RFC 1149 using FedEx instead of avian carriers.