FCC Forum Divided on Future VoIP Regulation

ElCheapo writes "As the great philosopher Eminem once said, 'The FCC won't let [VoIP] be, or let [VoIP] be free.' In Washington today, the FCC held a public forum 'to gather information concerning advancements, innovations, and regulatory issues related to VoIP services.' Slashdot has seen numerous stories on VoIP regulation recently, but Tom Evslin, CEO of ITXC, brought up another point: If VoIP is over-regulated, it will not go away, it will just move to other countries and reach the point where regulation can no longer be enforced. With or without VoIP regulation, will a global P2P (PSTN-connected) voice network emerge? Will it start out as hobbyists setting up Asterisk Open Source PBX boxes connected to their home POTS line? Will some form of ENUM allow least cost routing to boxes sitting in basements and garages around the world? If an ITSP in Europe can setup an Asterisk box with PSTN access and start offering US phone numbers and vice-versa, will global number plans become obsolete? What effect will the ridiculously low barrier to entry for VoIP have on telecommunications?"

Is this an essay test?

[plexxer]

With or without VoIP regulation, will a global P2P (PSTN-connected) voice network emerge? Will it start out as hobbyists setting up Asterisk Open Source PBX boxes connected to their home POTS line? Will some form of ENUM allow least cost routing to boxes sitting in basements and garages around the world? If an ITSP in Europe can setup an Asterisk box with PSTN access and start offering US phone numbers and vice-versa, will global number plans become obsolete? What effect will the ridiculously low barrier to entry for VoIP have on telecommunications?

Answer each question completely, citing examples whenever possible. Use the back of Slashdot for scratchwork if necessary.

Re:How quaint.

[Anonymous Coward]

A nice jacket with long arms. I have to type with my nose.

Damn, it smells like they burnt my toast again...

Great Philosopher Eminem

[Anonymous Coward]

Someday, when all of Slashdot past/present/future can fit on a storage device the size of a thumbnail, some poor shmuck of a kid will decide to do his history project on a great philosopher on one his teacher never heard of. He'll google for "great philosopher", and you can imagine the downward spiral from there. Buddy, you can have the responsibility, not me. Congratulations.

Re:POTS/PSTN Defined

[Anonymous Coward]

Good fucking definition. So what do those things mean?