A bill that establishes consumer protections – of a sort – for people whose phone service is delivered via voice over Internet protocol technology, but otherwise leaves Internet-delivered services unregulated, was approved by the California assembly yesterday. Assembly bill 1366 passed with a lopsided, bipartisan majority: 64 votes in favor, versus six noes and ten abstentions, which have the same effect as a no vote. All the noes and all but one abstention came from democrats.
It’s still not clear exactly how AB 1366 would regulate VoIP service. Originally, the bill simply extended a ban on regulation of any kind, by local governments or state agencies, including the California Public Utilities Commission, of “Internet protocol enabled” services. That ban is due to expire at the end of the year, which worries the likes of AT&T, Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Communications. But there are two sides to every story and in this case opposition from the primary union representing AT&T’s workforce forced inspired the author, Lorena Gonzalez (D – San Diego), to add skeletal VoIP service quality and customer service standards to the bill.
What’s still not clear is who would figure out what the bill’s vague, high level standards mean in detailed, real world terms, or how they would be enforced. No cop on the beat is identified, which means it’ll be up to the courts to ultimately figure it out, a job which is likely to require years of litigation.
AB 1366 doesn’t deal with actual broadband service, it just addresses services like VoIP or email or social media that ride on top of it.
The bill now moves to the senate side of the California capitol, where its first stop is likely to be the energy, utilities and communications committee. That’ll be the next opportunity for Gonzalez to add some clarity to it. Stay tuned.