THE REGULATORY MIX AND BLOG ARTICLES

FCC VoIP 911 Fee Declaratory Ruling 

At its Open Meeting today, the FCC voted to issue a Declaratory Ruling clarifying that state, local, and Tribal governments cannot charge the same class of subscribers total 911 fees that are higher for VoIP services than for traditional telecommunications services with the same 911 calling capability.  The FCC said that such treatment is discriminatory and conflicts with the NET 911 Act of 2008, which provides that a 911 fee or charge on VoIP service subscribers “may not exceed the amount of any such fee or charge applicable to the same class of subscribers to telecommunications services.”  

Mississippi PSC Charges Telemarketers for Violations of Do Not Call Law

In a news release the Mississippi PSC announced that it has charged multiple telemarketers with violations of the Mississippi No-Call law.  The PSC’s investigation found that 8 companies made 775 illegal calls to Mississippians.  Should these entities be found to have violated the No-Call law, they are subject to a $5,000 per call fine; totaling $3,875,000.

NIST Releases Privacy Framework Discussion Draft

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a draft  for discussion purposes to promote the development of the NIST Privacy Framework: An Enterprise Risk Management Tool. NIST will use feedback on this discussion draft to develop a preliminary draft of the framework.