Just when you thought there was one sure way to avoid those ridiculous taxes landline users pay, this news comes out of nowhere:

The policy at issue is the thorny question of which phone service providers are forced to contribute to the Universal Service Fund, a multibillion-dollar pool of money that's used to subsidize telecommunications services in rural and other high-cost areas, schools and libraries. The mammoth fund--$4.7 billion was distributed during the first nine months of this year--has been beset by charges of mismanagement and fraud during its seven-year history.

I guess they see the impact VoIP technology is having on the bottom-line of traditional phone companies' balance sheets. The writing is on the wall...