Commercial telephone service began in the United States in 1877. Recognizing the advantage of monopolistic control over the industry, the fledgling Bell Telephone Company sought regulation as protection from "aggressive competition" during the period from 1877 to 1910. The U.S. Congress responded with the Mann-Elkins Act of 1910, which effectively brought interstate telecommunications traffic within the regulatory jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). The ICC, however, maintained a focus on interstate rail traffic more than on interstate telecommunications. Nevertheless, the ICC, along with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), became concerned with the rapid growth of Bell Telephone. The two agencies attempted, in 1913, to force Bell Telephone into the Kingsbury Commitment, which was a decision designed to limit monopolistic growth by requiring Bell Telephone to provide interconnection to independent telephone companies and to refrain from further acquisitions. The Willis-Graham Act, however, overturned the...