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IP: CPSR -- No More Information Superhighway
From: Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Fri, 3 Nov 1995 19:14:25 -0500
FOR RELEASE MONDAY, NOV. 6, 1995 Contact: Audrie Krause (415) 322-3778 Andy Oram (617) 499-7479 No More Information Superhighway Palo Alto, CA -- The deregulation plan currently pending before Congress will do more to hinder development of the "Information Superhighway" than to promote it, according to an anlysis released today by Computer Professionals for Society Responsibility (CPSR). The group is a national alliance of computer scientists, computer users and computer science educators headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. "Instead of the democratic vision of free expression that we've been promised, we're getting 'Nightmare Alley,' " said Audrie Krause, CPSR's Executive Director. The detailed analysis of the Telecommunications Competition and Deregulation Act of 1995 in the Senate (S. 652), and the Communications Act of 1995 in the House of Representatives (H.R. 1555), was prepared by Andy Oram of Boston, MA, who moderates CPSR's Cyber-Rights Working Group, with assistance from numerous CPSR members. CPSR called on the Congressional conference committee now considering the two bills to make substantial changes before sending the legislation to President Clinton, who has attacked the bill for many of the same faults that concern CPSR. "The legislation will allow a few giant corporations to control virtually all of the information we receive," said Oram. "We will wind up with less variety, less choice and less freedom to express our views." Oram identified four major problems with the legislation. First, it allows the formation of oligopolies that control the information made available through radio, television, newspapers and electronic networks. It will also rest in a widening ga between the rich and poor, and between the educated and uneducated. Furthermore, it censors public discussion on electronic networks, and allows costs for telecommunications and cable services to rise too quickly and by too much. "If the legislation is not substantially improved, we will urge President Clinton to veto it," said Krause. "But we hope to persuade the conference committee to improve the bill so that it can be enacted." Electronic media are not just another industry like shipping or manufacturing, noted Oram. "The struggle over electronic media is a struggle for our very thoughts and actions," he added. Although much of the attention that has been focused on the bill has centered on the potential increased cost to telephone and cable customers, the pending legislation will affect a range of giant industries, including radio, broadcast and cable television, telephone companies, wireless communications and satellites, computer networks, and traditional news and publishing companies that are moving on-line. Although the stated purpose of the legislation is to increase the availability of technology in homes and businesses, the result will be just the opposite, according to CPSR. CPSR recommends the following changes in the legislation: * Promote diversity of programming by requiring carriers, like telephone and cable companies, to provide services to other companies at reasonable rates. * Protect the "free market of ideas" by preventing the formation of even larger media monopolies and oligopolies and keeping regulatory safeguards in place until proof of true competition emerges. * Retain current limits on the percentage of markets that one firm can own. * Continue to make it possible for users of one service to connect with users of other services. * Reject censorship and leave it up to parents to decide what their children view. * Ensure that all individuals have equitable access to the new technology. * Maintain affordable rates for cable and telecommunications services. * Require telephone companies to pass on to customers a portion of what they save through more efficient operation. * Preserve the preferential access available to public, educational and governmental organizations. * Require additional public interest programing, and more diversity in programming, in exchange for providing television broadcasters with more spectrum. Copies of Oram's policy analysis can be obtained by contacting the CPSR National Office at (415) 322-3778, or electronically at cpsr () cpsr org. The document is also available on the World Wide Web at http://jasper.ora.com/andyo/cyber-rights/telecom.html.
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