] The nation's Bell companies are quietly lobbying the
] nation's top regulators at the Federal Communications
] Commission. Their goal is to slap new charges on

This article reminds me of the forwards that went around a few
years ago that the USPS was going to start taxing e-mail. While
the RBOCs may get the FCC to let them charge for net to POTS calls,
I have a hard time imangining them having any way to do anything
about net to net calls ....

] The nation's Bell companies are quietly lobbying the
] nation's top regulators at the Federal Communications
] Commission. Their goal is to slap new charges on
] Internet-based calls in order to protect their own
] system. If the FCC goes along, it will effectively crush
] the growing entrepreneurial drive by numerous Internet
] providers to provide consumers with this service.

I'm curious where she gets some facts in this article, but nonetheless, she paints the picture as it really is.

] As any independent provider of Internet service can
] attest, the Bells have spent the last seven years
] fighting implementation of this federal law and are
] making it as difficult as possible for competitors to
] access the networks. Their needlessly high wholesale
] access prices have driven most DSL competitors out of
] business or into bankruptcy and locked America's ISPs
] into a low-speed ghetto.
]
] Not surprisingly, prices jumped immediately after the
] lockout was achieved.
]
] The Internet as Americans know it today is built on
] competition, choice and low-cost access--attributes not
] usually associated with the Bell monopolies. In fact, it
] appears that the DSL debacle may have only been the first
] course and that the Bells are now moving in for the kill,
] with the Internet itself as the ultimate entree. We all
] deserve better.