Internet voice services and telephony are different, concludes Commission
The European Commission has published an update to the 1998 communication on the status of voice on Internet services, reaffirming with some clarifications its conclusion that these services are different (except in limited cases) to those of telephony voice services under Community law. The conclusion comes following a consultation with relevant sources in the summer of 2000 over the whether both types of communication should be treated in the same manner. But it was decided after this consultation that the voice on Internet services do not usually reach all of the conditions set down in the 1990 Directive defining voice 'services'. The communication does not exclude the provision of looking at each case individually and also accepts that in some cases a voice service on the Internet may fulfil the conditions set out in the 1990 Directive.