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LET'S MAKE SURE GOVERNMENT STEERS DATA HIGHWAY IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
From: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Mon, 3 Jan 1994 14:03:43 -0500
Date: 02 Jan 94 17:52:55 EST From: "Lawrence J. Magid" <75300.2105 () compuserve com> Subject: Gore and Data Highway To: BlindCopyReceiver:; LET'S MAKE SURE GOVERNMENT STEERS DATA HIGHWAY IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION San Jose Mercury News Sunday, January 2, 1994 By LAWRENCE J. MAGID IT'S JAN. 2, 1908. Theodore Roosevelt is in the White House, and Henry Ford later this year will introduce the Model T. Vice President Charles Fairbanks is about to deliver a major speech outlining the administration's emerging national transportation policy. Roosevelt and Fairbanks understand the significance of this new technology and are eager to create a climate that encourages its growth. They want to encourage competition but they also want the industry's products and by-products to be safe, affordable and environmentally responsible. They're even thinking ahead to the time when the American auto companies will have to compete with foreign makers in the world market. That speech, of course, never took place. But if it had, I think we would have been better off. Now, 86 years later on Jan. 11, our current Vice President, Al Gore, will deliver an address laying out the Clinton administration's proposals for the government's role in our emerging national data highways. These highways, paved with fiber, cable, copper and air waves, will have as big an impact on the next century as the blacktop, gas stations and parking structures are having on the current one. Last month, Gore provided a preliminary look at the administration's goals in a speech before the National Press Club. He outlined five major principles that will guide the administration's policy. These are to encourage private investment, promote and protect competition, provide open access to the network, encourage flexibility and avoid creating a society of information haves and have nots. There is an irony to the administration's timing. The initiative comes at a time when more and more Americans distrust their government and yearn for the days of laissez-faire, wishing that Washington would keep its paws off of private enterprise and let the market operate on its own. Why not let the cable companies, phone companies, broadcasters, the newspaper industry, on-line services, hardware companies and software firms battle it out on their own? Do we really need Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Congress, the FCC, the FTC and countless other bureaucracies meddling in this new industry? The answer is a qualified yes. While industry will and should take the lead in developing new products and services, it is the role of government to take the long view to assure that these services are implemented in a way that is fair and fruitful. We don't need unnecessary bureaucracies, but we also don't want the educational equivalent of lead poisoning or data equivalent of gridlock. The government's role is especially crucial in a world where physical geographic borders are increasingly irrelevant. Think about the cybernetic equivalent of illegal immigration and smuggling. The Internet doesn't have border patrols to protect our intellectual property. The government must be involved, but, as the Vice President has promised, it must also leave lots of room for both entrepreneurs and the corporate giants to play their hands. We in Silicon Valley have a major interest in what Gore says on Jan. 11 and how Congress responds to the administration's policies. It's too early to comment on specifics but I urge you to take this initiative very seriously. Stay informed, and, once you formulate an opinion, share it with your representatives in Washington and Sacramento. And discuss it among yourselves. The Internet, the commercial on-line services and many computer bulletin boards have forums where you can discuss and debate these issues -- on-line equivalents of talk radio. You'll get plenty of feedback and, by joining with others, you'll have a stronger voice. Lawrence J. Magid writes a telecommunications column weekly for the Mercury News and is author of ''The Little PC Book, a Gentle Introduction to Personal Computers.'' You can write to him via Mercury Center Online at LarryMagid or the Internet at magid () latimes com.
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- LET'S MAKE SURE GOVERNMENT STEERS DATA HIGHWAY IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION David Farber (Jan 03)