irements; and 3) acquiring equipment, rights to use of facilities, and engaging services. AGREEMENTS, CONTRACTS, AND TARIFFS Acquisition of equipment and services is almost always pursuant to or governed by some form of agreement, usually a contract or tariff. Two types of contracts are common: active and passive. An active contract is a form of contract that is not binding on the parties until after it is executed or signed. A passive contract is one whereby the parties are bound upon action of the second party as spelled out in the contract by the first party. An example of a passive contract or agreement is the typical shrink-wrapped software license. These agreements are usu- ally printed on the package containing physical storage such as a floppy disk or compact disc, and state, among other things, that the license is binding on the user when the package is opened. Tariff is one of the most misunderstood terms in the communications industry. The word tariff dates to Roman times when it applied to tax collection and payment of fees for use of bridges or roads. In more recent times, tariffs were a part of the transportation industry, as well as communications industry. Common carriers included airlines, railroads, trucking, and bus companies. Before deregulation, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) regulated these businesses. 8 ACQUIRING AND EVALUATING EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES Regulation of the communications industry was and, to a lesser degree, still is the purview of the Federal Communications Commis- sion (FCC) and state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) bodies. Interstate tariff matters are the purview of the FCC and intra-state tariffs are dealt with by the PUC in each state. The PUC also deals with a myriad of other tariffs such as electric and in some cases water, gas, oil, and other material and resources. More specifically, the term tariff filing is the proper term. Entities designated by the FCC and PUC as a common carrier file public documents with the appropriate regulatory body detailing servi