LET'S MAKE SURE GOVERNMENT STEERS DATA HIGHWAY IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

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.