IP: Article: The Hard Questions in Broadband Policy (intro)

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: Andy Oram <andyo () OREILLY COM>
> Subject:      Article: The Hard Questions in Broadband Policy (intro)
>
> I interviewed several people on this list for this article,
> along with other people, some of whom may be new to you.--Andy
>
> http://www.webreview.com/pi/2001/03_23_01.shtml
>
>    March 23, 2001 > Platform Independent
>
> The Hard Questions in Broadband Policy
>
>    By Andy Oram
>
>      Broadband policy is on everybody's agenda today, but the hard questions
>                                         are being addressed by only a few.
>
>    During a period of life most people try to forget, I learned from my
>    high school teachers the key to academic success: how to score well on
>    standardized tests. "Answer the easy questions first," they said, "then
>    go back and answer the hard ones if you have time."
>
>    This is not a bad strategy for policy makers, either. It is the route
>    taken by Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, and advocates
>    for Internet service providers in opening up new possibilities in
>    broadband. They decide such general questions as "Should all providers
>    have access to cable networks?" and leave the thorny issues of
>    oversight, cost, and equitability for later.
>
>    But maturity has taught this former high school student some tough
>    lessons. There is no intellectual training comparable to 20 years of
>    showing technical documents to computer engineers who rip them to
>    shreds, plus five years of showing policy papers to law professors who
>    rip them to shreds. I've found I can't hide from the hard questions.
>
>    So in this article I will focus on the hard questions that I see as
>    remaining to be answered in broadband. And I'll start from the top,
>    with the questions that are most difficult--because these are the ones
>    that generate the most points for the right answers.
>
> 1. How do we provide truly universal access to symmetric broadband?
>
>    ...
>
>      __________________________________________________________________
>
>    Andy [10]andyo () oreilly com, is an editor at O'Reilly & Associates and
>    moderator of the Cyber Rights mailing list for Computer Professionals
>    for Social Responsibility. This article represents his views only.
>    This article can be reposted in its entirety for non-profit use so
>    long as you keep the copyright notice.
>
>    Copyright WebReview.com 1995-2001



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