[CrackMonkey] Sincere, if incompletely implicated alert: H.R. 4445 (NetAction)
George J.P. Perry
geoperry at catch22.com
Sun Sep 24 20:07:39 PDT 2000
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 15:34:49 -0600 (MDT)
From: Audrie Krause <audrie at netaction.org>
Subject: NetAction Notes No. 61 (ACTION ALERT)
Published by NetAction Issue No. 61 September 21, 2000
Repost where appropriate. Copyright and subscription info at end of message.
* * * * * * *
In This Issue:
ACTION ALERT: Act Now to Keep Internet Access Affordable!
About NetAction Notes
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ACTION ALERT: September 21, 2000
ACT NOW TO KEEP INTERNET ACCESS AFFORDABLE!
Urge the House Commerce Committee to Vote "No" on HR 4445
Legislation that could significantly increase the cost of Internet
access was quietly approved on September 18, 2000 by the House
Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection.
H.R. 4445, a little-known bill sponsored by Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.)
would end a telephone industry cost reimbursement arrangement that
has helped keep Internet access charges affordable for consumers.
With less then three weeks before the end of the current legislative
session, Internet service providers and other opponents of the bill
are concerned that the bill might slip through Congress as an
attachment to a year-end appropriations bill. Lobbyists for the
Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) are working hard to get the
bill approved before the session ends.
HR 4445, the Reciprocal Compensation Adjustment Act of 2000, is bad
news for consumers. The full House Commerce Committee could consider
HR 4445 as early as next Tuesday, September 26, 2000. Internet users
should contact House Commerce Committee members immediately and urge
them to oppose HR 4445.
(DO NOT CIRCULATE THIS ACTION ALERT AFTER SEPTEMBER 26, 2000.)
BACKGROUND ON HR 4445:
HR 4445 would end a cost reimbursement system that local telephone
companies use when different companies handle a single phone call.
The system is known as reciprocal compensation. In its simplest
terms, reciprocal compensation is an arrangement by which the
caller's telephone company reimburses the call recipient's telephone
company for costs associated with completing calls.
For example, an Internet user gets local phone service from Pacific
Bell, and uses an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that gets service
from Pac West, a competitor to Pacific Bell. When the Internet user
dials in to her ISP, Pacific Bell must pay Pac West for the cost of
completing the call.
Congress required competing local phone companies to negotiate these
arrangements as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. When the
terms were negotiated, the Bell companies demanded high fees because
they assumed that they would be paid to complete calls that were
started by competitive companies.
But their assumptions were wrong. Most consumers get phone service
from the Bells, while many ISPs have switched to competitive
companies. So the Bells have had to pay billions of dollars to the
competitive companies that complete the millions of calls that
consumers make to ISPs when they go online. But rather than pay up,
the Bells are lobbying Congress to change the rules -- rules they
willingly agreed to when they assumed they were going to benefit from
them.
If Congress approves HR 4445 and ends the reciprocal compensation
system, competitive phone companies will lose a significant source of
cash flow and will be forced to charge ISPs more for phone service.
If the ISPs pass those increases on to their customers, as expected,
it poses a threat to affordable dial-up Internet service --
especially in rural and low-income areas.
Millions of Americans are using the Internet today because the cost
of dial-up service is affordable. Price competition is so intense, in
fact, that some ISPs offer service for free. This is an important
factor in bringing technology to low income and rural communities,
and bridging the digital divide.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
HR 4445 may be considered by the full House Commerce Committee as
soon as next Tuesday, September 26, 2000. A list of Commerce
Committee members is included below. Please call fax a letter TODAY
to one or more of the committee members, and urge a "no" vote on HR
4445.
WHAT TO TELL THE HOUSE COMMERCE COMMITTEE:
Be brief. Here are some suggested talking points:
* HR 4445 is a threat to affordable Internet service. It will lead
to higher costs for ISPs, and higher Internet access charges for
consumers.
* HR 4445 is a threat to the availability of Internet service in
rural and low-income areas. We need affordable Internet service in
low income and rural communities to help bridge the digital divide.
* The Bells should not be allowed to change the rules just because
the market didn't develop the way they expected. In a competitive
market, there are no guarantees.
WHO TO CONTACT:
REPUBLICANS:
Committee Chair:
Tom Bliley, VA Phone: 202-225-2815 Fax: 202-225-0011
Michael Oxley, OH Phone: 202-225-2676 Fax: N/A
Michael Bilirakis, FL Phone: 202-225-5755 Fax: 202-225-4085
Joe Barton, TX Phone: 202-225-2002 Fax: 202-225-3052
Fred Upton, MI Phone: 202-225-3761 Fax: 202-225-4986
Cliff Stearns, FL Phone: 202-225-5744 Fax: 202-225-3973
Paul Gillmor, OH Phone: 202-225-6405 Fax: 202-225-1985
James Greenwood, PA Phone: 202-225-4276 Fax: 202-225-9511
Christopher Cox, CA Phone: 202-225-5611 Fax: 202-225-9177
Nathan Deal, GA Phone: 202-225-5211 Fax: 202-225-8272
Steve Largent, OK Phone: 202-225-2211 Fax: 202-225-9187
Richard Burr, NC Phone: 202-225-2071 Fax: 202-225-2995
Brian Bilbray, CA Phone: 202-225-2040 Fax: 202-225-2948
Ed Whitfield, KY Phone: 202-225-3115 Fax: 202-225-3547
Greg Ganske, IA Phone: 202-225-4426 Fax: 202-225-3193
Charles Norwood, GA Phone: 202-225-4101 Fax: 202-225-0279
Tom Coburn, OK Phone: 202-225-2701 Fax: 202-225-3038
Rick Lazio, NY Phone: 202-225-3335 Fax: 202-225-4669
Barbara Cubin, WY Phone: 202-225-2311 Fax: 202-225-3057
James Rogan, CA Phone: 202-225-4176 Fax: 202-225-5828
John Shimkus, IL Phone: 202-225-5271 Fax: 202-225-5880
Heather Wilson, NM Phone: 202-225-6316 Fax: 202-225-4975
John Shadegg, AZ Phone: 202-225-3361 Fax: 202-225-3462
Chip Pickering, MS Phone: 202-225-5031 Fax: 202-225-5797
Vito Fossella, NY Phone: 202-225-3371 Fax: 202-226-1272
Roy Blunt, MO Phone: 202-225-6536 Fax: 202-225-5604
Ed Bryant, TN Phone: 202-225-2811 Fax: 202-225-2989
Robert Ehrlich, MI Phone: 202-225-3061 Fax: 202-225-3094
DEMOCRATS:
Ranking Democrat:
John Dingell, MI Phone: 202-225-4071 Fax: 202-226-0371
Henry Waxman, CA Phone: 202-225-3976 Fax: 202-225-4099
Edward Markey, MA Phone: 202-225-2836 Fax: N/A
Ralph Hall, TX Phone: 202-225-6673 Fax: 202-225-3332
Rick Boucher, VA Phone: 202-225-3861 Fax: 202-225-0442
Edolphus Towns, NY Phone: 202-225-5936 Fax: 202-225-1018
Frank Pallone, NJ Phone: 202-225-4671 Fax: 202-225-9665
Sherrod Brown, OH Phone: 202-225-3401 Fax: 202-225-2266
Bart Gordon, TN Phone: 202-225-4231 Fax: 202-225-6887
Peter Deutsch, FL Phone: 202-225-7931 Fax: 202-225-8456
Bobby Rush, IL Phone: 202-225-4372 Fax: 202-225-0333
Anna Eshoo, CA Phone: 202-225-8104 Fax: 202-225-8890
Ron Klink, PA Phone: 202-225-2565 Fax: 202-226-2274
Bart Stupak, MI Phone: 202-225-4735 Fax: 202-225-4744
Eliot Engel, NY Phone: 202-225-2464 Fax: 202-225-5513
Tom Sawyer, OH Phone: 202-225-5231 Fax: 202-225-5278
Albert Wynn, MD Phone: 202-225-8699 Fax: 202-225-8714
Gene Green, TX Phone: 202-225-1688 Fax: 202-225-9903
Karen McCarthy, MO Phone: 202-225-4535 Fax: 202-225-4403
Ted Strickland, OH Phone: 202-225-5705 Fax: 202-225-5907
Diana DeGette, CO Phone: 202-225-4431 Fax: 202-225-5657
Tom Barrett, WI Phone: 202-225-3571 Fax: 202-225-2185
Bill Luther, MN Phone: 202-225-2271 Fax: 202-225-3368
Lois Capps, CA Phone: 202-225-3601 Fax: 202-225-5632
For more background see "Lobbying could hike Net costs" at:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/partners/nf/netfees_20000920.htm
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