Source

Automatically imported from: http://commons.somewhere.com:80/rre/1994/Bill.Drake.html

Content

This web service brought to you by Somewhere.Com, LLC.

Bill Drake

``` Computer Professionals For Social Responsibility San Diego Chapter

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF GLOBAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE Bill Drake [wdrake@weber.ucsd.edu] Department of Communication University of California, San Diego

Tuesday, April 26th 5:30 - 7:30 P.M.

University of California, San Diego Applied Physics & Mathematics Building, Room 4301

To date, the debate in the United States on the construction and governance of information infrastructure has been largely focused on purely domestic strategies and policies. The Clinton Administration's policy initiatives, the many position papers churned out by corporate lobbying groups like the Council on Competitiveness and by public interest groups like the Electronic Frontiers Foundation, the raging debates now underway on many Internet discussion lists -- these and other contributions to the process have all largely ignored both information infrastructure developments in other countries and regions like Western Europe, and also the larger questions of how broadband networks will be managed on a transnational basis. This parochialism in communication policy is a long-standing tradition in the United States, but is especially inappropriate in the current environment of economic globalization and privatization.

The policy of benign neglect leaves many critical questions unanswered. For example, are existing national and multilateral policies on questions like personal privacy, network interconnection and trade in services sufficient for the broadband delivery of voice, data and interactive television signals, or do new policies need be designed to cater to the emerging systems and services? Are existing international organizations and regimes well suited to the task of global governance, or should new and more democratic fora be created? How do we balance private sector interests in a commercial, free trade-oriented approach to global interconnection with the interests of other countries where the public sector plays a more important role? What about the interests of the non-profit networking communities, and of the developing countries? The purpose of this presentation is to provide an overview of these and related questions, which will become increasingly important on the national and international agendas during the coming years.

Bill Drake is a professor in the Department of Communication at UCSD who has written widely on the political economy of global telecommunications and information policy.

This meeting will be held on the campus of the University of California, San Diego, in Muir College, the Applied Physics and Mathematics (AP&M) building, room 4301. We will begin at 5:30. Parking is readily available.

Directions: From I-5, take the Genesee exit westbound, up the hill and straight through the light; you will be on North Torrey Pines Road. About half a mile later you'll see the "University Extension" entrance on your left. Enter the university there, and park in one of the large lots on your right. Signs should direct you to the person who sells parking permits ($3), and you can ask this person where the Applied Physics and Mathematics building is.

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) is a national, nonprofit, public interest organization of computer professionals dedicated to promoting the responsible use of computer technology and ensuring that information plays a positive role in society. Begun in Palo Alto in 1983, CPSR now has over 2,600 members across the country in 21 local chapters. The San Diego Chapter was formed in 1987.

If you have any questions regarding this meeting or CPSR's San Diego Spring speaker series, please contact David Noelle [(619) 272-7719 (home) or dnoelle@cs.ucsd.edu]. For more details about CPSR, send a message to cpsr@cpsr.org. ```

This web service brought to you by Somewhere.Com, LLC.