From: summit@tmn.com (NII Public Interest Summit ID)
Subject: Gathering at the Summit - First Live Report
The stage is set. The sound system, the TV cameras, the pair
of giant screens tested, and the Internet connection is working.
People are beginning to arrive.
Your humble live reporter is Frank Burns. We're at the big
ballroom at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington, DC. Over
600 people are expected -- so you can imagine the amount of
schmoozing that is already underway around the entrance to
this large room.
For the Net, we'll be posting "near-live" reports from the
second row. I'm going to do my best to deliver a fairly
steady stream of reports during today's event,... and my plan
is to report the scene (as best I can)... in addition to
my own subjective summaries and highlights from the presenters.
The scene: stage with the usual podium beside a row of
nice chairs. To the left of the stage is a giant screen where
the live and taped video will be shown. To the right of the
stage is another giant screen -- with a live connection to
the Internet. At the moment, the opening screen of Mosaic
is large enough that everyone even in the rear most row
will be able to read it.
.. ... frank@tmn.com at 8:30 am
From nii_agenda-approval@world.std.com Tue Mar 29 14:15:03 1994
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From: lisa@tmn.com (Lisa Kimball)
Message-Id: <9403291841.AA01892@tmn.com>
To: nii_agenda@civicnet.org
Subject: Live from the Summit - Report # 2
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Report # 2 - Live from the Summit
I'm amused to see how many of "the usual suspects" have been
rounded up for this event. Out in the lobby, I spoke briefly
with Mitch Kapor, Robert David Steele, David Lytel, Connie
Stout, Elaine Albright.
Andrew Blau, Benton Foundation, has just begun his welcome
remarks... and is ticking off the list of public interest
foundations and other organizations who've jointly supported
this event.
Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown is "speaking" on video.
He taped his opening remarks because he's physically in
Russia at the moment.
Secretary Brown likened the IIF to the town commons of
the 18th century. Secretary Brown chairs the Information
Infrastructure Task Force (IITF). He has just stated the
Administration's commitment to Universal Service. "No one
should be left standing on the side of the road."
From nii_agenda-approval@world.std.com Tue Mar 29 14:17:28 1994
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From: lisa@tmn.com (Lisa Kimball)
Message-Id: <9403291842.AA02002@tmn.com>
To: nii_agenda@civicnet.org
Subject: Live from the Summit - Report # 3
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Report # 3 - Live from the Summit
"I think it's very significant that participants at this
conference were given clipboards instead of notebooks," said
Raul Yzaguirre -- the first speaker this morning. "All of
us must be at the table and in the dialogue." "We want to
be producers, not just comsumers." .... "Indeed we are
talking about nothing less than the future of the American
people."
Members of the first panel are moving up to the stage
and Lane Rawlins is introducing the focus for this panel.
"Delivering the Goods: Meeting Public Needs." Members of
this first panel include:
C. Everett Koop, Koop Institute
David Lytel, White House Office of Science and Technology
Jean Armour, NY State Research and Education Network
Anthony Riddle, Alliance for Community Media
Connie Stout, Texas Education Network
Patricia Wank, National Audubon Society
The members of this panel have all said, in different ways,
that the challenge is to make sure that the NII becomes more
than just a large pipe for more entertainment. "We need to
be talking about the real issues, how people communicate with
each other," said Tony Riddle just now.
"We need to build the infrastructure," said Connie Stout.
"But people have to be taught how to use the tools."
(Applause for Connie's strong statement that teaching people
to use the tools is as important as building the tools.)
"A ten-percent anarchy factor" should be built-in says
Tony Riddle. He pointed out that the model followed by
cable TV, where 10 percent of the capability is set asside
for public use, could be adopted by planners of the NII.
David Lytel says it will be very difficult to make the
transition from a universal service provided by a regulated
monopoly to a universal service provided by a web of companies
who are in competition with each other.
Lots of discussion about the importance of training and
education -- triggered by several questions from the floor,
with everyone agreeing that training is essential and not
easily accomplished.
From the floor, an opinion that the NII should reserve
one fifth of the "lanes" for public use. The panelists
are shaking their head in agreement. Tony Riddle says we
need new models because none of our other models (cable,
FM radio, etc) will work for the NII. David Lytel is
saying that the Clinton administration is committed to
making sure that citizens can produce as well as consume.
There needs to be public access to the production tools.
Ah... our first chance to see the Net in action. A
question that came to us over the Net from Ron Miller at
the Univ of Michigan/School of Education was asked of Dr.
Koop. The text of the question was shown on the large
screen at the right of the stage.
Time for a break !
From nii_agenda-approval@world.std.com Tue Mar 29 14:16:01 1994
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From: lisa@tmn.com (Lisa Kimball)
Message-Id: <9403291843.AA02124@tmn.com>
To: nii_agenda@civicnet.org
Subject: Live from the Summit - Report # 4
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Report #4 - Live from the Summit
The second panel of the summit has just gotten underway.
The focus of this panel is: "A Link Into Every Home - How,
What, and When?" The moderator is Allen Hammond, Director,
Communications Media Center, New York Law School.
In introducing the panel, Hammond said the fundamental
questions are "What is universal service? What is universal
access? And what do they mean to us as people?"
Panelists include:
Ron Binz, Colorado Office of Consumer Council
Mark Cooper, Consumer Federation of America
Deborah Kaplan, World Institute on Disability
Robert Larson, WTVS in Detroit
Michael Nelson, White House Office of Science & Technology
Andrew Schwartzman, Media Access Project
Deborah Kaplan is asserting that although the issues of
economics and affordability are real, so also are the issues
of language and culture. Low income people need to be responded
to as real consumers just like everyone else. We cannot assume
that one size fits all. Universal service is not just charity.
We need full diversity on the Net.
Ron Binz says he's been using the term "information superhypeway".
We need to reject the extremes of (1) build it and they'll come
and (2) the market will take care of everything. Who's going to
build the NII? It's going to take cooperation rather than
competition to fund the infrastructure.
Andrew Schwartzman says we must understand that technology will
evolve in ways we cannot predict, and therefore we need specific
goals and objectives -- and public interest advocates must be
involved in setting these goals and objectives.
The real challenge is to get the pipe into every home and
every school. It might cost $2,000 per house to get the pipe
installed. The cost of the boxes is much smaller. (Mike Nelson)
Robert Larson declares that public TV can and should play
a key role in the NII. "We are already involved in serving
the needs of citizens." .... "Don't forget public broadcasting!"
(applause)
Deborah Kaplan: multi-media potentially will make accesibility
MORE difficult for the disabled. The much touted GUI interface
cannot be allowed to keep blind people from the Net, for example.
(Foo... time ran out before taking any questions from the net!)
(Everyone has to leave so the Secret Service can "clear" the
room for the Vice President's arrival after lunch.)
(A reminder from your reporter: everyone is invited to
contribute to these records of the Summit. Send your email
to summit@tmn.com and we'll have a better and more complete
summary of this event.)
.. ...frank at tmn.com noon in Washington DC
From nii_agenda-approval@world.std.com Tue Mar 29 15:51:02 1994
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From: lisa@tmn.com (Lisa Kimball)
Message-Id: <9403292024.AA07760@tmn.com>
To: nii_agenda@civicnet.org
Subject: Live from the Summit - Report # 5 - Speech by Gore
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Peter Goldmark, President of The Rockefeller Foundation,
introduced Vice President Al Gore, commenting that how we
chart our information highway will determine the future of
democracy. Schools must be wired. The network must be
part of local democracy. And government must set the rules
of the road because -- it's the government's job.
------
Vice President Gore: (Reminder, just to be clear, these are
this reporter's notes -- they are not direct quotes of the VP.)
Our administration believes we must wire every school,
classroom, clinic and library in our nation -- and do this
within the next five years. We have the technology. But
we're missing the infrastructure.
Every single person will benefit from the NII.
The National Telecommunication and Information Adminstration
in the Department of Commerce recently announced the availability
of funding for some of the aspects of the NII and already they
have received 3,500 inquiries have been received.
The two most important principals we assert are (1) universal
service, and (2) open access. The NII must make it possible
for everyone to sendas well as receive -- like the Internet
today. We want to pass legislation this year that will ensure
universal service and open access.
Reforming telecommunications law is essential.
Networked communities will teach their children better, fight
crime better, get better health care. SeniorNet provides
such services to our senior citizens.
We are increasing the availability of government informaton.
HUD, today, has begun to put info about fair housing and fair
lending on the net. We can empower our representative democracy.
Massive parallelism is a model for democracy. People closest
to the problems are the smartest about solutions. The printing
press was the anabling technology that gave rise to our original
form of democracy. We can only imagine what the future will be.
We will ensure that the NII is developed in the public interest.
Q: Will demos be avail so that parents can learn about the net?
A: It's a real problem. Financial and geographic access is a
problem that must be solved -- but also people need knowledge
about how to use the new tools.
Q: Can old people be a technology peace corps?
A: sure; good idea .... MIT's Athena system has online volunteer
tutors in every discipline. People on the networks love to help
other people do what they do.
After democracy, education will be the single most important
beneficiary of the NII.
Thank you all for participating, and that's NOT just perfunctory.
Sustained attention to the public interest is essential.
From nii_agenda-approval@world.std.com Tue Mar 29 17:49:28 1994
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From: lisa@tmn.com (Lisa Kimball)
Message-Id: <9403292217.AA12089@tmn.com>
To: nii_agenda@civicnet.org
Subject: Live from the Summit - Report # 6
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Live from the Summit - Report # 6
The third panel is now assembled on stage. This panel is
focused on "Building Communities and the Economy." Members
of this panel include:
Cushing Dolbeare, Low-Income Housing Coalition
Randy Ross, American Indian Telecommunications
Thomas Kalil, National Economic Council for
Science and Technology
Anthony Pharr, United Church of Christ
Morton Bahr, Communications Workers of America
Diana Roose, National Association of Working Women
The moderator of this panel is Linda Tarr-Whelan, Center
for Policy Alternatives.
After brief introductory statements by each panelist, the
discussion centered on the relationship of the NII and the
need for more and better jobs.
The NII needs to be used directly in support of policy
development. We should use the technology that exists now
in order to do the kind of planning needed to make sure
the new technologies produce advances in our national
economy.
Randy Ross stressed that the majority of jobs on reservations
at the present time are in fact federal jobs.
Diana Roose asserted that our goal must be to create better
jobs, not just more jobs. We do NOT need electronic sweatshops.
Morton Bahr pointed out that the new technologies will permit
people to live and work anywhere -- but that also means that
some of the new jobs will actually exist in other countries.
Tony Pharr, in a response to a question from the floor, said
that advertising and pay-for-use are NOT the only way that the
costs of the NII will be covered. Other sounces must be found.
Diana Roose pointed out that the increase in the number of
telecommuters has a down side -- and mentioned the example of
the medical records stranscriber who was told that she would
HAVE to begin working from home.
From nii_agenda-approval@world.std.com Tue Mar 29 18:13:36 1994
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From: lisa@tmn.com (Lisa Kimball)
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To: nii_agenda@civicnet.org
Subject: Live from the Summit - Report # 7
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Live from the Summit - Report # 7
The 4th panel is focused on "Making Democracy Work." The
moderator is Sonia Jarvis, Executive Director of the National
Coalition for Black Voter Participation.
Members of the panel are:
Brian Banks, Policy Research Action Group
Jim Butler, American Association of Retired Persons
Mitchell Kapor, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Sally Katzen, Information Policy Committee, IITF
Ralph Nader, Center for the Study of Responsive Law
Nadine Strossen, ACLU
What is all this new technology going to do about such
problems as violence in the schools, put more real people
into the Office of Managment and Budget, mega-billion dollar
overselling of unused software? (Can you guess who is saying
this? Yes. Ralph Nader.)
Nadine Strossen says the critical issues of access and
universal access are important -- but security and privacy
are equally important. We have to absolutely certain that
there are no censorial controls over the content on the Net.
Those who operate the NII must be considered common carriers.
All of us must lobby for privacy protection -- and we must
fight the clipper chip.
Brian Banks commented on the importance of local grass roots
groups being advocates. Don't leave policy development up to
the national advocacy organizations.
If you're not hands-on, all you're going to get is hand-outs.
You must do whatever you personally need to do in order to
get online and start learning and using. Ask for help, but
don't wait for a national give-away. (Mitch Kapor)
There is enormous democratic potential in the Internet --
but it's not easy to use. It's time to develop free software
to make these networks easy to use. (Mitch Kapor)
On the clipper chip (ha ha ha... just as Sally Katzen began
to speak about this, a shreak of electrical feedback came
through the PA system)... The Clinton administration looked
very carefully at all the issues and potentials before supporting
the clipper chip.
But we have NOT heard a persuasive argument that the clipper
chip will actually accomplish any thing really useful. (Nadine
Strossen)
Mitch Kapor says there are highly encouraging signs that
online networks will enable people at local levels to get
more involved in local politics -- and he mentioned the work
