TMCnet News
FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell Commends Swift Action to Protect Internet Voice ServicesThe Enforcement Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission reached a $15,000 consent decree today with Madison River Communication, LLC that will ensure uninterrupted Internet voice service on the company’s network. “We saw a problem, and we acted swiftly to ensure that Internet voice service remains a viable option for consumers,” said FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell. According to the terms of the consent decree, Madison River commits that it will refrain from blocking VOIP traffic and ensure that such blocking will not recur. The company will pay a contribution of $15,000 to the United States Treasury to settle this matter. “The industry must adhere to certain consumer protection norms if the Internet is to remain an open platform for innovation” said Powell. Powell has laid out his vision of “Internet Freedom”, a series of principles by which any company that intentionally breaks a consumer’s connection to the Internet violates the openness that consumers have come to expect. “In my view, the surest way to preserve ‘Net Freedom’ is to handle these issues in an enforcement context where hypothetical worriers give way to concrete facts and—as we have shown today—real solutions,” said Powell. –FCC– |