"VOIP'S POINT MAN"... FROM FORBES

Decent article on Powell. Another reason to vote for Bush. :)

Michael Powell may be the best friend an up-and-coming communications system ever had. The Federal Communications Commission chairman has been a staunch supporter of voice over IP--technology that sends phone calls over the Internet--and is pushing hard to make sure the emerging service can grow and prosper.

"I do believe that the VoIP industry has been served very well by having Chairman Powell at the helm," says Jeff Pulver, chief executive of Pulver.com, and founder of its subsidiary Free World Dialup, a VoIP service provider based in Melville, N.Y. "He really gets it. He's a technologist at heart, and he sees the future and how the Internet is changing things."

Powell's presence on the FCC has helped contribute to the rise of VoIP--and now, his potential departure has some observers concerned. Powell's ongoing support is critical to the budding service, since many users of the technology--and investors in its vendors--worry that if VoIP is controlled and taxed like conventional telephony, the price of calls will rise and the profitability of service providers will fall. (full article)