The rapid advancement of digital technology and telecommunications has outpaced the current U.S. regulatory regime. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 defined (and re-defined) economic regulations and classifications of telecommunications services and providers. These regulations, however, have become outdated and are no longer relevant to the new services and technologies that have arisen over the past few years. Attempts to classify these new services into outmoded regulations stifles innovation, creates uncertainty in the marketplace and diminishes the increase in productivity that is directly attributed to such innovations. Policymakers understand the need to establish a new communications policy framework that encourages the continuing transformation and modernization of communications networks through broadband and IP-enabled applications. As they begin to debate and examine regulatory policy in this new era, CEA offers the following Guiding Principles for Telecommunications Policy Reform for consideration.

CEA Position Paper: Preserving Commercial and Retail Availability of IP Devices - January 2008 [pdf, NEW]