e911 bill provides VoIP liability protection

An e911 bill circulating on Capital Hill would give VoIP providers the same liability protection as other voice providers, according to Bill Wilhelm with Bingham McCutchen. If H.R. 3403 [1] becomes law, it will protect VoIP providers from litigation if they fail to deliver a 911 call but can prove they tried.

Wilhelm told FierceVoIP that the rest of bill codifies what the Federal Communications Commission already has mandated. FCC rules require VoIP providers to tell subscribers they may lose 911 capabilities if the power or broadband goes down. It also requires that 911 calls are routed similarly to those transmitted via wireline calls. An inquiry remains open at the commission on how to keep tabs on where VoIP calls originate. Right now, the e911 system has no way of knowing when VoIP subscribers move to a new physical location.

The FCC last week gave mobile service providers five years [2] to be able to track all 911 calls made from cell phones. The issue has taken on more urgency since about one-seventh of Americans now rely exclusively on mobile phones. Commissioner Robert McDowell [3] had doubts about the order, saying a "broad array of entities--wireless service providers, technology vendors and public safety--have told us that we are not yet in a position to devise a plan for rolling out a system of improved wireless e911 location accuracy. I hope that these predictions turn out to be incorrect."

For More:
- PC World provides details of the FCC order here [4]
- Caron Carlson of InternetNews.com covered the introduction of H.R. 3403 here [5]