Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian
Why do they have to run to the FCC when they could have tried getting this resolved with Sorenson?
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An excellent question from Brian and I passionately believe in the idea of going to the FCC only after trying to work things out between parties. As Snap's counsel, I have worked with Sorenson on a number of issues of mutual interest. In our complaint against Sorenson, we describe how I (and Purple) contacted Sorenson to resolve their videophones' failure to pass through Caller ID information and did not get a straight answer from Sorenson. Other people have contacted Sorenson to ask about the issue, but have been brushed aside by Sorenson with a "no comment", see:
Complaint Filed Against Sorenson The Deaf Edge
Even after filing the complaint, I am continuing to communicate with Sorenson and keeping alive the possibility of resolving this without FCC's intervention; the goal here is for Sorenson to fix its non-compliant vp as quickly as possible. For many years, people had to struggle with Sorenson's system of proxy (fake) numbers which they could not use to call others using different videophones. The FCC established a ten digit number requirement so that we could become equal to the phone system hearing people use in that they use ten digit numbers to call each other, rather than difficult to use IP address. However, the failure to pass through Caller ID means that people, hearing or deaf, will still not be able to see the ten digit numbers of the caller using a Sorenson videophone. Sorenson's vps have been engineered in a way that their phone numbers information is hidden and does not show up on a different vp or to a hearing person's cell phone or on their caller IDs. Other videophones like Snap's Ojos clearly show the call recipient what their ten digit number is. We describe in the complaint why this makes a big difference among consumers to have their phone numbers passed through to the other end.
Thats not good for deaf people, its not in compliance with FCC rules and its not acceptable by providers like Snap who invested significant amounts of money to make their videophones compatible with Sorenson VPs - we fully expect Sorenson to do the same thing and make their vps compliant with FCC standards and properly interoperable with other vps. Sorenson can quickly make this engineering change on their own, and do the right thing for us all.
-Jeff Rosen