I don't care if this thing as a 6,000 mile range, I am decidedly unexcited about signing up for a Sony-proprietary anything. Please place it in the pile next to Betamax, MemoryStick, and ATRAC.

According to the article, the FCC is imposing a fee if and when the VOIP call interfaces with the PSTN network, ie. when one or more of the parties is using legacy telephone service. The fee does not apply to pure VOIP calls. Unfortunately, it isn't clear if a provider must pay the fee if it *ever* connects to PSTN, or only on a per-call basis. If it's the former, then this is really ridiculous. If it's the latter, then this may make some semblance of sense, annoying though it is. Anybody know which it is?