IP: CPSR -- No More Information Superhighway

[Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

FOR RELEASE MONDAY, NOV. 6, 1995                
                                        Contact:        Audrie Krause
                                                        (415) 322-3778
                                                        Andy Oram
                                                        (617) 499-7479          
No More Information Superhighway


Palo Alto, CA  -- The deregulation plan currently pending before
Congress will do more to hinder development of the "Information
Superhighway" than to promote it, according to an anlysis released
today by Computer Professionals for Society Responsibility (CPSR). 
The group is a national alliance of computer scientists, computer
users and computer science educators headquartered in Palo Alto, CA.


"Instead of the democratic vision of free expression that we've
been promised, we're getting 'Nightmare Alley,' " said Audrie
Krause, CPSR's Executive Director.


The detailed analysis of the Telecommunications Competition and
Deregulation Act of 1995 in the Senate (S. 652), and the
Communications Act of 1995 in the House of Representatives (H.R.
1555), was prepared by Andy Oram of Boston, MA, who moderates CPSR's
Cyber-Rights Working Group, with assistance from numerous CPSR
members.  CPSR called on the Congressional conference committee now
considering the two bills to make substantial changes before sending
the legislation to President Clinton, who has attacked the bill for
many of the same faults that concern CPSR.


"The legislation will allow a few giant corporations to control
virtually all of the information we receive," said Oram.  "We will
wind up with less variety, less choice and less freedom to express
our views."


Oram identified four major problems with the legislation.


First, it allows the formation of oligopolies that control the
information made available through radio, television, newspapers and
electronic networks.  It will also rest in a widening ga between
the rich and poor, and between the educated and uneducated. 
Furthermore, it censors public discussion on electronic networks,
and allows costs for telecommunications and cable services to rise
too quickly and by too much.


"If the legislation is not substantially improved, we will urge
President Clinton to veto it," said Krause.  "But we hope to
persuade the conference committee to improve the bill so that it can
be enacted."


Electronic media are not just another industry like shipping or
manufacturing, noted Oram. 


"The struggle over electronic media is a struggle for our very thoughts 
and actions," he added. 


Although much of the attention that has been focused on the 
bill has centered on the potential increased cost to telephone 
and cable customers, the pending legislation will affect a range 
of giant industries, including radio, broadcast and cable 
television, telephone companies, wireless communications and 
satellites, computer networks, and traditional news and 
publishing companies that are moving on-line.


Although the stated purpose of the legislation is to increase the
availability of technology in homes and businesses, the result will
be just the opposite, according to CPSR.


CPSR recommends the following changes in the legislation:               


* Promote diversity of programming by requiring carriers, like
   telephone and cable companies, to provide services to other
   companies at reasonable rates.          


* Protect the "free market of ideas" by preventing the formation of
   even larger media monopolies and oligopolies and keeping regulatory
   safeguards in place until proof of true competition emerges.


* Retain current limits on the percentage of markets that one firm can
   own.


* Continue to make it possible for users of one service to connect
   with users of other services.


* Reject censorship and leave it up to parents to decide what their
   children view.          


* Ensure that all individuals have equitable access
   to the new technology.


* Maintain affordable rates for cable and telecommunications services.


* Require telephone companies to pass on to customers a portion of
   what they save through more efficient operation.


* Preserve the preferential access available to public, educational
   and governmental organizations.


* Require additional public interest programing, and more diversity in
   programming, in exchange for providing television broadcasters with
   more spectrum.


Copies of Oram's policy analysis can be obtained by contacting the
CPSR National Office at (415) 322-3778, or electronically at
cpsr () cpsr org.  The document is also available on the World Wide Web
at http://jasper.ora.com/andyo/cyber-rights/telecom.html.