By By James M. Smith and Michael van Eckhardt
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the fifth in a series of orders since 1998 modifying its rules relating to "slamming" (the unauthorized changing of a subscriber’s telecommunications service provider). In the process, the FCC has—in the pursuit of greater consumer protection—significantly increased the responsibilities and burdens of providers of wireline local and long distance telecom services irrespective of whether the service provider is the unauthorized carrier ("slammer"), the authorized ("slammed") carrier, or the executing carrier that processes the change. Moreover, the FCC’s orders have exposed carriers to potential liability for slamming in more than 35 states as well as at the Federal level.
