Sen. Ensign Introduces Communications Legislation That Rewrites the '96 Act - Maybe with good intent but danger lurks

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

There was confidentiallity agreement attached as well as the  
document.  Ask Bob to send you it djf


Begin forwarded message:

From: Bob Frankston <Bob19-0501 () bobf frankston com>
Date: July 28, 2005 6:58:17 PM EDT
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Sen. Ensign Introduces Communications Legislation That  
Rewrites the '96 Act - Maybe with good intent but danger lurks


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I got this as columnist (VonMag). My wont is to be suspicious but it  
is interesting. I don’t know much about Ensign so I can only comment  
on reading this out of context. I notice McCain is a cosponsor. I’m  
interested in others’ opinions.

Overall it doesn’t quite “get” the Internet but seems to be  
eliminating impediments to applications like VoIP. That’s good.

What makes me suspicious is the “Regulation of Municipal Broadband  
Networks” that seems to prohibit them by treating them as if they are  
service networks rather than infrastructure.

While the bill may have the best intentions it makes it difficult to  
switch to a utility model because such a move could easily be  
construed as unfair competition. This is one reason why I’m trying so  
hard to distinguish between a utility infrastructure and a service  
network.

Until we shift the framing from “services” to “infrastructure” it  
will be difficult to get the connectivity we need. At very least we  
need to introduce this concept into the public debate.



Fr

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