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democracy is a virus from outer space
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Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 14:59:39 PDT
From: Bill Frezza (via RadioMail)
Themes and variations from "Ode to a Librarian signing praises of NII for the poor".
----- Forwarded Message
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 14:44:16 PDT
From: Mark Stahlman (via RadioMail)
Bill;
Of course you're absolutely correct about the wholesale invasion of technology business by the "poverty program"! After official Washington had left new technology more-or-less alone since the microprocessor was invented, the first digital administration -- Clinton's -- is hellbent on planting it's boot on the neck of every new technology driven industry. And to justify and motivate this massive assault, Field Marshall Al Gore has invented the totally fabricated notion of an "Information Superhighway." Not only is the metaphor wrong -- there simply is no such thing. There will be no merger of the cable and telephone industries. There will be no fiber optic, switched broadband network deployed during this century -- or, more importantly, during this administration. As you may know, I have dealt with some of the issues involved in my Wired piece "The Infobahn is a Big Fat Joke", as well as on CNN and in various other public forums.
Unfortunately, John Barlow's Wired article, "Jackboots on the Infobahn", is only half right. The jackboots are real -- the infobahn is not. And, since John focussed on the Clipper and FBI II privacy issues, he didn't tell us that there's far more yarn in that sweater -- and it's all of the same cloth. Ed Andrews piece today in the NYTimes is simply wrong. The administration/ congress isn't confused and contradicting themselves -- Clinton and crew is invading, plain and simple.
All the trips to Silicon Valley, the olive branch of export controls (sweeping out old cobwebs) and the invitations to "Summit Conferences" are just the velvet hand that holds the club. The budget bill's spectrum auction (and outlawing of lotteries), the wiretap bill, Clipper, the buildup of the Anti-Trust division and every piece of legistlation that attempts to rewrite the Comm Act of 1934 are all the same -- they're the club. These are attempts to control markets and assume power over these new technologies. In the process a new "poverty-program" will be born and massive opportunities to build the economy will be lost.
EFF is a witting accomplice. No matter how much they really do want to defend cyberspace "rights", they are being used by official Washington to manufacture ammunition for the invasion. Why did EFF drop it's campaign for ISDN? Why did EFF buy into the absurdity of the Info-Hypeway? I was told by them that it was for "politics." I was told that they knew Gore was full of it but they had to play along to achieve EFF's goals. OP 2.0 and the efforts to supply Markey and others with "language" for their bills all play directly into the invaders hands. EFF supplies both the velvet (with the appearance of "progressive" ideals) and the club (with specific plans to write a new "social compact"). No wonder Washington loves them.
The Cablecos and Telcos are complicit and, ultimately, probably foolish. While they aren't spending a nickle on the "Infobahn" except for market trials (the billions being spent on fiber are the normal plant upgrades aimed at cost reduction and service inprovements), they are all too happy to use the "Info-Hypeway" as a convenient excuse for failed mergers and other foibles. They may believe that the rise of a fictional "InfoBahn" can be used as a forceful arguement for deregulation but they will lose that debate. As events demonstrate, they probably already have.
I'm telling you that the game is much larger and more dangerous for the continued development of entreprenuer-driven technology-based markets than your missive explicitly addresses. Don't let anyone tell you that this will all turn out OK or that you are jumping to conclusions. Feel free to distribute this wherever you think it may help.
Mark Stahlman Stahlman@radiomail.net (212)349-2700 ```
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