Monster Media 1993 #2/Image.iso/text/tele_acc.zip/FORUM2.TXT

Text File | 1993-06-03 | 9KB | 120 lines

LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS UPDATE

      by Paul W. Schroeder, Director of Governmental Affairs

    A new communications revolution is already well under way, and it has the potential
to dramatically improve the independence, self-sufficiency and productivity of people
who are blind or visually impaired.
    The inability to read and use standard print has been a constant barrier for blind
people over the years.  That barrier is coming down as printed pages are replaced by
digital electronic files.  Advances in computers and communications networks have the
potential to dramatically expand access to virtually limitless collections of information.
The rapid flow of digital or electronic information is made possible by a fragmented
collection of computer networks known as the Internet.  There are perhaps as many as
10,000 computer networks in dozens of countries with as many as 15 million users.  The
number of users is expected to double by year's end.  Many of you are probably familiar
with the Internet because of your use of networks such as CompuServe or Genie.  The
wealth of information such as newspapers, periodicals and other material available on
the Internet, along with the ability to send and receive electronic communications, is
already staggering.  But dramatic changes may be in store because of efforts by the
Clinton administration and the private sector to improve the communications
infrastructure.
    Vice President Al Gore expressed the administration's ultimate goal this way in an
interview published in a recent edition of Congressional Quarterly's "Weekly Report": "In
the next decade it will be possible for an elementary school student to come home after
class and instead of playing Nintendo, plug into the Library of Congress and explore an
entire universe of information. ... It will be possible for creators of software and other
forms of electronic intellectual property to download their products into a national grid
and make contact between buyers and sellers instantaneously."      President Clinton has
given Gore responsibility for administration policy on the national communications
network--or, the "information super highway."     The administration's first step into the
computer and communications network policy arena was modest:  a two billion, five-year
federal program to link more schools, libraries, hospitals and businesses into a markedly
improved and more information-rich nationwide computer network.     However, neither
Congress nor the administration has conclusively determined how to bring the improved
communications network across the "last mile" into people's homes.  Equally unclear is
the question of how the information and services available over these computer networks
will be made accessible to people of all ages, abilities and incomes.  The copper
telephone wire which brings basic telephone service into most homes lacks the capacity
for the high-speed, large-volume communications that are now envisioned for the next
century.  Fiber optic cable, which now links most local telephone exchanges, has
tremendous capacity for rapid transmission of massive amounts of information.
However, because of the cost of replacing the existing copper wire, the communications
industry is turning to coaxial cable, the wire used for cable TV, to bring the
communications revolution into American households.  Others argue that many of the
benefits of computer networks can be provided on a wide scale at low cost over the
myriad of current communications vehicles such as copper wire, radio frequencies, cable
TV and satellite transmissions.  In the interview with Congressional Quarterly, Gore did
say, "Now is the time for more emphasis on the configuration of data bases, the last-mile
problem, the sociopolitical and economic problems of ensuring access and devoting more
attention to user software issues, ways to broaden the universe of information and make
it more available to the network."
    Congress is moving very quickly to enact the initial Clinton plan.  By the time you
read this, a committee in the House of Representatives may have already acted on a
version of the Clinton proposal.  And, the Senate Commerce, Science and
Transportation Committee may also have cleared passage of a similar proposal
sponsored by committee chair Ernest F. Hollings, D-S.C.
    The House legislation, H.R. 1757, is sponsored by Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., the
Chair of the House Subcommittee on Science.  Boucher's bill, known as the "High
Performance Computing and High Speed Networking Applications Act of 1993," amends
legislation, "The High-Performance Computing Act of 1991," which was sponsored by
then-Senator Gore.  At a press conference to introduce the legislation, Boucher said,
"Just about everyone agrees that the building of an interactive communications network
capable of delivering voice, video and data seamlessly to every home and business in
America is necessary."  Addressing the question of who should be responsible for
developing the network, Boucher said, "We do not intend for the federal government to
build the information superhighway.  The physical network, including fiber optic lines
and high capacity switches, will be deployed, owned and maintained by the private
sector."
    However, the legislation would require that the federal government establish common
standards and protocols for electronic information storage and retrieval.  Looking toward
the future, Boucher noted that "This common formatting will be particularly important
when libraries throughout the United States store in electronic form the millions of
volumes of printed material currently on their shelves."  The legislation provides
incentives for the creation of these digital libraries of electronic information including
the vast quantity of government information.  "Our goal is for every individual in his or
her home or office to be able to obtain access to any library in the nation, to utilize an
electronic index, retrieve a particular document and print that out on his or her laser
printer all within a matter of minutes," Boucher said.  THE DISABILITY
PERSPECTIVE
    Responding to the introduction of H.R. 1757, Rep. Major R. Owens, D-N.Y., a
longtime advocate for people with disabilities and a leading sponsor of the Americans
with Disabilities Act, told Boucher's subcommittee, "Our future electronic village must
contain no barriers; the frontier of the tele-community must be open to every American."
Drawing an analogy to access for people with disabilities under the ADA, Rep. Owens
urged the Subcommittee to include "electronic curb cuts" by amending the legislation to
"require that all expressive and receptive electronic communications (are) readily usable
and affordable by persons with disabilities, thereby ensuring that the system will be user
friendly for every American. ... We must consider multiplicity or redundancy of channel
to ensure that individuals who are blind, for instance, can also hear the data or images
that are 'pulled down' from a data base."
OTHER FRONTIERS OF ACTION
    The Regional Bell Operating Companies want to be able to provide cable TV
programming, manufacture telephone equipment and offer information services.  The
Bell companies were prevented from undertaking these activities by the 1984 U.S.
District Court ruling, which created the so-called "Baby Bells" from the breakup of
telecommunications giant AT&T.  An important precedent was set when the Bell
companies agreed to adopt most of the recommendations of a coalition of disability
groups, including the American Council of the Blind, in legislation which would permit
the Bells to manufacture telecommunications equipment.  The disability position is that
the new equipment and services should be fully accessible to and usable by individuals
with disabilities, and if that is not possible, then the new equipment and services should
be configured to work with computers and other communication devices developed for
people with disabilities.  This would mean that graphics-based or video-image systems
should be configured so that blind individuals can make full use of the information being
distributed through the system.
    Technological developments and industry efforts are moving at a lightning pace.  We
must immediately work to convince Congress, the Clinton administration and the private
sector that distribution of information and other communications is enhanced for all
people when access is ensured for people with disabilities.  If we are successful, we may
see a new communications revolution which provides maximum benefits to blind and
other disabled persons right alongside everyone else.
                              CAPTIONS
    Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., sponsor of H.R. 1757.
    Rep. Major R. Owens, D-N.Y., envisions a barrier-free telecommunications future for
blind and other disabled Americans.
    Vice President Al Gore is responsible for Clinton administration policy on
telecommunications.