Did you feel the chilly breeze form the north yesterday? Over two dissents, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission--Canada's FCC--decided it will treat VoIP services as if they were just another local telephone service.

The CRTC claimed its decision to regulate Internet telephony was for the best of competitive reasons, of course. According to its news release, the principal basis of the CRTC's decision seems to be to ensure that the incumbent telcos "cannot price their local VoIP services below cost to stifle competition."

Regulation to keep prices high may be good for competitors, in the short run. But in view of the difficulty of any business maintaining a below-cost regime for any length of time in a technologically dynamic and competitive environment, such high-priced regulation can't be good for consumers.