Intellectual Property Law

New Fed Law Mandates Internet 911 Emergency Calls Service

By IBLS Editor

President Bush has signed into law a Bill stipulating that phone calls made over the Internet (called Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP service) to a 911 emergency operator, will have the same status and safeguards as traditional 911 calls. This law will be especially helpful to those persons residing in the 50% of American counties, boroughs and parishes that do not have enhanced 911 capabilities.

The official name of the Act is the New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008, HR3403. It was signed into law July 23, 2008. The Bill was sponsored in the House by Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and John Shimkus (R-Ill.), co-chairs of the E-911 Caucus, and Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), and sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.).

Section 102 of the law is titled, "Migration to IP-Enabled Emergency Network." This states that the new law amends Section 158 of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act (47 U.S.C. 10 942). The legislation says that E-911 Implementation Coordination Office shall develop a plan for the migration to new technology within 270 days of the Act being passed.

The Act states that the move will be based upon a "national plan for migrating to a national IP-enabled emergency network capable of receiving and responding to all citizen-activated emergency communications and improving information sharing among all emergency response entities."

In Title II, (10), the law calls for "Enhanced 911 Service" to be established. The Act describes this:

"Enhanced 9-1-1 Service.?The term 'enhanced 9-1-1 service' means the delivery of 911 calls with automatic number identification and automatic location identification, or successor or equivalent information features over the wireline E911 network."

The Act has received a mixed response from various analysts. Groups representing handicapped Americans hailed it as wise legislation, while Internet phone companies such as Vonage also touted its merits. But other entities were not as sanguine about the law, especially Internet VoIP companies that feel the legislation does not allow them enough time to implement the measures.

Nuvio, a VoIP provider, reacted with frustration to the fact that the service may need to be up and running within 120 days in some spots. They released an official statement, claiming that because of

"technological and regulatory impediments, Nuvio believes that this issue can not be resolved over the period of several months."

Jeffrey Talley, Nuvio"s CEO, claimed that the FCC overreached in their action, terming the new Act "reactionary." Talley would like more time to develop better technology for providing the enhanced 911 service. Such technology must include the ability for emergency operators to pinpoint where a caller is located, and also to be able to call the number back. Talley was especially critical of the 120-day deadline, saying it was "not realistic, especially when we aren't given the tools to provide service."

But the FCC says that what can be gained from the new law outweighs any shortcomings it might cause. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin stated, "Today's action seeks to remedy a very serious problem ? one quite literally of life or death for the millions of customers that subscribe to VoIP service as a substitute for traditional phone service."

In an important exception, the FCC has stated that the ruling only applies to VoIP providers already setup with telephone switching networks, so that purely Internet-based calling companies, like Skype, will not need to provide 911 services.

A politician from the most rural state in the Union, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), was especially appreciative of the new law, given how many Alaskans live in remote settings, saying "this will help emergency responders save more lives by ensuring that our nation's 911 laws are up-to-date with new technologies."

Full post as published by IBLS Internet Law Blog on August 11, 2008 (boomark / email).