And what's the problem with Google Voice deciding to do this? They provide a free service to people that does not fall under the government regulations we're talking about, so as far as I can tell they're free to do what they want.
Maybe that's a "loophole" too. Maybe VoIP has reached a level of ubiquity that it should be better regulated.
Also, your emphasis on "free" implies Google doesn't have a profit motive or receive an imputed value by providing it. RoI may be something else we need to think about beyond traditional bottom-line numbers.
The only argument I've heard which made sense (that GV should be less regulated) is that they aren't providing an end-user telephone service. It's just call forwarding. (However, I've read GV can be used with SIP as an end-user service. But, it sounds like GV tries to prevent that.).
However these rural carriers really are truly ripping off the common carriers. I don't blame Google one bit. I'd do it in a heartbeat (as would AT&T if they were allowed too.) -- "Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini
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