If foreign governments or other bodies begin to impose related restrictions on Internet telephony or our other services or otherwise enforce criminal or other laws against us, our affiliates or employees, such activities could have a material adverse effect on our ability to attain and maintain profitability. As we continue to operate abroad and expand into additional foreign countries, such countries may assert that we are required to qualify to do business in the particular foreign country, that we are otherwise subject to regulation, or that we are prohibited from conducting our business in that country. Our failure to qualify as a foreign corporation in a jurisdiction in which we are required to do so, or to comply with foreign laws and regulations, would materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, including subjecting us or our employees to taxes and criminal or other penalties and/or by precluding us from, or limiting us in, enforcing contracts in such jurisdictions. We cannot be certain that our customers, service partners, employees or other affiliates are currently in compliance with regulatory or other legal requirements in their respective countries, that they or we will be able to comply with existing or future requirements, and/or that they or we will continue in compliance with any requirements. Our failure or the failure of those with whom we transact business to comply with these requirements could materially adversely affect our business, financial conditions and results of operations. The telecommunications industry is subject to domestic governmental regulation and legal uncertainties and other laws that could prevent us from executing our business plan. While the FCC has tentatively decided that information service providers, including Internet telephony providers, are not telecommunications carriers for regulatory purposes, various entities have challenged that decision. In addition, some members of Congress are dissatisfied with the related conclusions of the FCC, which could result in the imposition of greater or lesser regulation on our industry. State government agencies may also increasingly regulate Internet-related services. These types of regulation may negatively impact the cost of doing business over the Internet and materially adversely affect our ability to attain or maintain profitability. We are not licensed to offer traditional telecommunications services in any U.S. state and we have not filed tariffs for any service at the Federal Communications Commission or at any state regulatory commission. Nonetheless, aspects of our operations may currently be, or become, subject to state or federal regulations governing licensing, universal service funding, advertising, disclosure of confidential communications or other information, excise taxes, transactions restricted by U.S. embargo and other reporting or compliance requirements. We have offered our prepaid international calling card services on a wholesale basis to international carrier customers, and others, some of which provide these services to end-user customers, enabling them to call internationally over The iBasis Network from the U.S. We have also made arrangements to participate in the selling and marketing of such cards. Although the calling cards are not primarily marketed for domestic interstate or intrastate use, we have not blocked the ability to place such calls or required our wholesale customers to show evidence of their compliance with U.S. and state regulations. As a result, there may be incidental domestic use of the cards. Domestic calling may employ transport and switching that is not connected to the Internet and, therefore, may not enjoy the lighter regulation to which our Internet-based services are subject. Because we provide wholesale international services, we do not believe that we are subject to federal or state telecommunications regulation for the possible uses of these services described here and, accordingly, we have not obtained state licenses, filed state or federal tariffs, posted bonds, or undertaken other possible compliance steps. There can be no assurance that the FCC and state regulatory authorities will agree with our position. If they do not, we could become subject to regulation at the federal and state level for these services, and could become subject to licensing and bonding requirements, and federal and state fees and taxes, including universal service contributions and other subsidies, and other laws, all of which could materially affect our business.
We are also subject to federal and state laws and regulations regarding consumer protection and disclosure regulations. These rules could substantially increase the cost of doing business domestically and in any particular state. Law enforcement authorities may utilize their powers under consumer protection laws against us in the event legal requirements in that jurisdiction are not met. The FCC also requires all calling card service providers that enable users to place toll-free calls from payphones in the United States to compensate the payphone operator for each call placed from a payphone. Future changes in FCC payphone compensation rules and/or the failure of a company that provides toll-free numbers to us to compensate payphone companies could affect our revenues.
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