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EFF201.TXT
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########## ########## ########## | BUILD THE NATIONAL PUBLIC NETWORK:|
########## ########## ########## | An Open Letter to the Internet|
#### #### #### | |
######## ######## ######## | EFF TESTIFIES IN WASHINGTON:|
######## ######## ######## | Excerpts from the EFF proposal|
#### #### #### | to the House Sub-committee on|
########## #### #### | Telecommunications and Finance|
########## #### #### | |
=====================================================================|
EFFector Online November 6, 1991 Volume 2, Number 1|
=====================================================================|
THE NATIONAL PUBLIC NETWORK BEGINS NOW,
AND YOU CAN HELP BUILD IT:
An Open Letter from
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
Dear Friends of EFF:
Telecommunications in the United States is at a crucial turning point.
With the Regional Bell Operating Companies (the RBOCS) now free to provide
content as well as conveyance, the push for dominant shares of the market
for information services will begin with a vengeance. How to shape and
control this burgeoning market is a problem that has been thrown from the
courts into the lap of Congress. But, for the past decade, Congress has
been hearing only two voices in the debate over telecommunications policy.
To widen this circle the EFF has joined the debate between the Regional
Bell Operating Companies (the RBOCs) and their opponents over the future of
telecommunications. We have done so to break the deadlock that has kept
this nation from developing an affordable, open, and accessible information
network; a system we call the National Public Network (the NPN). Creating
this network is one the EFF's main missions. We would now like to urge the
entire Internet community to join us in helping to implement a technology
on which we can begin to build the National Public Network.
Last week, in testimony before the House Sub-committee on Telecommunications
and Finance of the Energy and Commerce Committee, the EFF proposed that
Congress act to deploy a ubiquitous, affordable communications platform,
based on the extant technology of the Integrated Services Digital Network
(ISDN), to every home, office, and school in the country. In outline, our
proposal asks:
1) that the nation employ existing ISDN technology to give the
ability to telecommunicate affordably, ubiquitously, and
easily to all those with a copper-wired telephone connection;
2) that we use the existing technology and infrastructure of ISDN
to begin building of the National Public Network now;
3) that we stop waiting for the nation to spend hundreds of
billions of dollars and decades to rewire with fiber optics;
4) that we act now to reap the benefits of affordable connectivity
for all;
5) that we use existing technology in order to gain experience
in the human uses and benefits of networking;
6) that this technology be priced like local voice service.
The Telecommunications Standoff
The main reason that the U.S. has stalled in the development and and
deployment of information technology is that the two-sided debate over
policy is so polarized that compromise is exceedingly difficult to reach.
One side is formed by the RBOCs. The other side is a coalition of print
and electronic publishers, long-distance carriers and the cable television
industry. This coalition fears that if the RBOCS are allowed to provide
content as well as conveyance, the market will never become truly
competitive.
The RBOCs, as described by their opponents, have vast sources of capital.
The RBOCs can control local exchanges and services critical to marketing
and distributing information services. In sum, according to the opposition,
the RBOCs are seen as regional monopolies in search of yet more arenas to
monopolize.
In their defense, the RBOCs assert that they no longer have monopoly
control over local exchange facilities. They also assert that the benefits
of the information age will only reach the mass consumer market when they
are allowed to bring their special resources and expertise to the medium.
They claim that their opponents fears are overstated; that they can be the
message as well as the medium.
Everyone now involved in the debate agrees on the need for legislative
safeguards. If the RBOCs are to provide information services over their
own common carrier networks, we need to take steps to ensure a level
playing field for all. Proposed safeguards include a requirement that the
RBOCs create subsidiaries to produce and market information services at
arms' length from the network carriage divisions. Other safeguards include
pricing rules which would ensure that affiliated information providers pay
the same rates for information transmission services as are charged to
unaffiliated providers.
The EFF agrees that many of the proposed safeguards are necessary. But it
also knows that the central issue is to create a network that is open,
free, and accessible to all, not just one that works for an association of
business interests. The EFF believes that what has been lost in this
debate is a concrete focus on how best to meet the telecommunications needs
of the American public. The EFF feels that this should be the primary goal
of a national network. With our current draft proposal we also think that
there is a way out of the current standoff through a blend of politics and
intelligently applied existing ISDN technology.
Over the last year and a half, the EFF has, with the support and hard work
of many individuals and organizations, become a voice that is heard and
respected in the legislative and policy arenas. With the continued help and
support of the Internet, we can build on this work and make "the voice of
the Internet" a significant force in shaping the communications
infrastructure in this country.
We believe that those with Internet experience should be part of the
process that determined the shape, cost, and future of information
technology in the coming decade.
At the conclusion of our testimony in Washington last week, the
Sub-committee expressed keen interest in our ISDN concept, and encouraged
us to develop the proposal in detail. When we mentioned that much of the
proposal originated with our friends and members, the committee asked for
more detailed input from the networking community and computer industry.
We are appending excerpts from the testimony to this letter.
What You Can Do
Based on this positive response from Congress, members of the EFF and the
Internet now have the opportunity to break the deadlock that has hamstrung
the development and widespread use of information technologies for years.
In the coming months the EFF will be working, with the help of our members
and concerned networking constituents, on a fully detailed proposal to
bring this about. We are calling this effort "The Internet Brain Trust."
We would like to ask you to join us in this effort, whose progress we will
continue to describe in this publication.
First, we urge you to join the EFF if you are not already a member. This
implies a minimum of financial support as well as the willingness to stand
up and be counted as an active supporter. While the financial consideration
is important to us, we'd like to stress that it is *much more* important in
political terms for us to have as many members as possible. We need to be
able to show not only the efficacy of our proposals, but the extent of our
constituency.
Second, if you only wish to monitor the progress of this project over the
coming months you may, from time to time, send an email request to
npn-info@eff.org. All you have to do is include the line "Send documents
braintrust" in either the subject line or the body of your letter and you
will receive the lat