Notes from 2/10/94 Meeting NII Advisory Council from the Coalition for Networked Information distri

[David Farber <>]

--------------------------------------
Date: 2/11/94 1:05 AM
From: cni-announce () cni org
*----------------------------------------------------------------------*
*                                                                      *
*                         NII Advisory Council                         *
*                          February 10, 1994                           *
*                                                                      *
*----------------------------------------------------------------------*




                                PREFACE




The following notes on the subject meeting were prepared by Paul Evan
Peters, Executive Director, Coalition for Networked Information, to
quickly convey some sense of the meeting to the subscribers of the cni-
announce Internet distribution service and to other interested and
concerned parties.


The discussions at this meeting flowed quickly and ranged widely.  It
was not possible to capture what each person said, or even to always
identify exactly who was speaking.  The following notes attempt to
provide an appreciation for the topics that were covered in the order
they arose, but they do not attribute specific remarks to individual
persons.


Additional information about this meeting and related matters will be
distributed, as soon as it becomes available, via cni-announce.  Other
information of interest can be obtained, in addition to other means, by
gophering to cni.org and iitf.doc.gov.




                             MEETING NOTES




Chairman Lewis (National Public Radio) opened.  All members of the
Council have made it clear that they are happy to give advice to the
Secretary of Commerce and the rest of the Administration on these
matters.


Chairman McCracken (Silicon Graphics) continued.  A cold requires that
Chairman Lewis preside for most of this meeting.  NII should yield a
more productive society, more jobs, more economic gains in general, and
a more competitive economy.  NII is the keystone of Administration's
technology policy.  This Council needs to generate a common view on a
few key subjects.  NII is currently a big amorphous idea that means so
much to each of us.  We are still very much at the "wish list" stage.
This Council represents the country to the Administration.  This Council
needs to focus on a few key issues.


Each member of the Council introduced herself or himself, and made a
brief statement about her or his interests and priorities.


Chairmain Lewis remarked on the common threads from this round-robins of
intoductions and statements:  the need for NII access, openness, and
partnerships, and the desire to be a substantive, effective council.
Members want to play a role in defining what the NII is.  In preparation
for the next meeting of the Council, each member will submit a one to
two page statement on this subject, including a list of priority issues.


Reports were presented by the chairs of each of the three committees
that support the Administration's Information Infrastructure Task Force
(IITF):  Arati Prabhakar reported on the IITF Committee on Applications
and Technology;  Sally Katzen reported on the IITF Committee on
Information Policy;  and, Larry Irving reported on the IITF Committee on
Telecommunications Policy.  Brief discussions of what each committee
would like in the way of assistance from (members of) the Council.


Chairman Lewis called for discussion.


*  Where is "universal service" going?


   -  The Administration believes that a dynamic concept must be
developed, something that will evolve as technology continues to change.
The Administration also wants to broaden the base of entities paying
into the subsidy pools that make universal service possible.


   -  Are we going to have Federal preemption or will we have 50+
definitions?  There are state-by-state differences, and the Federal
policy must account for those differences subject to some national
consensus regarding a minimum level of service.


   -  Are we talking about transport only or are we also talking about
content as well?  In the telephony period it meant only transport.  We
clearly needed an expanded definition of some sort.


Chairman Lewis recognized Secretary of Commerce Brown upon his arrival.


Secretary Brown welcomed the Council.  Appreciates energy and diversity
of group.  Genuinely want to hear whatever the Council chooses to offer.
In areas as important of this one, the Federal goverment cannot listen
enough.  The Council's advice is needed to void the law of unintended
consequences in this instance.  We want to ensure universal service,
interoperability, investment, and competition.


Chairman Lewis called for discussion.


*  In addition to the four things that the Secretary ended with, we need
to educate the public in a real way on why we are working on the NII to
begin with.


*  This Council has to look at the problems to be be solved and created
by the NII below the level of 50,000 feet.  The opportunity before this
Council is to talk in real terms about real impacts.  Let's home it on
the specific actions that the government must take.


*  Access to free public education and to free public libraries is
something that we as a society decided long ago, and we have to make
sure that the NII moves us forward rather than back in these terms.


*  We need to avoid "entitlement thinking," thinking that leads to
programs which transfer funds from one sector to another without clear
articulation of goals and accountability of results.


*  Even so, we need to talk in real terms about how to use the NII to
get more information to more people without cost being a factor.  We
need to develop markets, yes;  but we also need to provide for all of
our citizens in certain basic ways without conveying a sense of "you are
needy and therefore unworthy."


*  We must avoid a "one size will fit all" mentality.  Where the
information comes from and who paid for its creation are important
considerations.


*  It is important not to confuse cost, price, and value.


*  This talk is all well and good, but there is legislation pending and
government actions being considered.  It is not clear that those
proceedings are taking any consideration of the issues that we are
discussing, and that they even care that this Council exists.


   -  Even if the Council cannot reach consensus on some of the matters
that will break in the near future, all of us will be edified by the
discussion, each of us has numerous private ways to influence the course
of events, and there will be issues calling for our attention for come
time to come.


Secretary Brown recognized Vice President Gore upon his arrival.


Vice President Gore welcomed the Council.  Appreciate the spirit and
enthusiasm with which all of you are entering into this work.  We are
relying on you for advice and input in more ways than you can imagine.
In the government we are keenly aware of what we don't know, and that
the real drivers of this transition are in the private sector;  first
comes the hardware, then comes the software, and, after a significant
delay, then comes the policy.  :-)  I am especially interested in your
ideas on how we can achieve universal service.  But enough from me ... I
am here to listen.


Chairman Lewis called for discussion.


*  We are concerned first with what the NII is, then we will turn to how
to provide the NII.  We are also mindful of the fact that the life cycle
of telecommunications policy is fifty years, more or less.  Must the
"information superhighway" give way to the "information supermarket"
during that period?


*  The prior policy framework *awarded* monopolies and *required*
universal service.  We are on new ground with this Administration's
policy framework, a framework that strives to promote *competition* and
which *calls* for universal service.


*  One specific question to prime this thought process that was used in
a previous period (start-up of the cable industry) is "Should the
superbowl be broadcast for free?".


*  Universal access is quite different from universal service, as the
use of these phrases in the health care debate illustrates.  Service is
the much preferrable term.


*  There is also a difference between subsidizing services and
subsidizing people.


*  It is also important to formulate a symmetric policy, one that looks
to providers of services as well as to consumers of services.


*  The difference between "affordable" and "reasonable" prices is also
important.


*  There are three basic components of telecommunication costs:
connection, time, and intellectual property.  We should keep open the
possibility of not charging schools and libraries for time.


*  Competition and not subsidies should drive this process.  We need to
make sure that we get as much as we can from competition before we turn
to subsidies.  After all, legal electronic publishers find it
competitively advantageous to offer their products and services at low
prices to law school students.


   -  Loss leader stragegies may make sense in professional education,
but they do not make sense in elementary and secondary education.


   -  There are also markets that private interests don't compete for.


*  Glad to be part of the dialog on this big picture, and to hear that
the Council has not been convened for rubber stamping Administration
views and proposals.  In this spirit, the Administration is well-advised
to reconsider its Clipper encryption strategy.


   -  This proposal brings the clash between privacy, security, and law
enforcement to the front burner before we have built our national
consensus on how to balance these interests.


   -  Many countries do not allow encryption at all.


   -  What's more, encryption and code breaking has determined at least
one world war already.


Chairman Lewis closed the discussion by taking note of the time.


Chairman Lewis announced that the Council's next meetings are
tentatively scheduled for March 18th, April 25th, and June 17th.  He
noted that these meetings will likely be held in DC, but commented that
this has not been decided and there is some sentiment that the meetings
be moved around or that regional meetings of some description be held.


Chairman Lewis adjourned the meeting with thanks to all involved.




                         DOCUMENTS DISTRIBUTED




Unites States Advisory Council on the National Information
Infrastructure.


United States Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and
Information Administration, "1993 Annual Report."


United States Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and
Information Administration, "Fact Sheet:  Information Infrastructure
Task Force (IITF)."


United States Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and
Information Administration, "IITF Committee Report:  February 10, 1994."


United States Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and
Information Administration, "IITF Committee Report:  December 9, 1993."


United States Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and
Information Administration, "Information Infrastructure Task Force
announces Computer Bulletin Board," December 16, 1993.


United States Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and
Information Administration, "Pilot Demonstration Grants Program."


United States Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and
Information Administration, "The National Information Infrastructure."