VoIP Pioneers Pan Title II

A group of voice-over-IP (VoIP) pioneers tabbed "tech elders" said that they are very concerned about the impact of the Federal Communications Commission's Title II decision on their business. Among those on the call to express their unhappiness was Bryan Martin, chairman of VoIP provider 8x8. He said he did not think the decision would survive court review, and in the review would waste time, cost money in lawyers fees, create uncertainty and result in going back to square one. He pointed out that back in the early 2000s, his was a startup company getting chased by the state of California and told it was illegal to deliver voice on the public net without being a licensed carrier (per Title II requirements). One major issue is that VoIP could be treated not as an app but as a service, said Jeff Pulver, co-founder of Free World Dialup, later Vonage.