roundtable: TPR-NE ** MARCH 15 FORUM ** CONGRESSIONAL TELECOMM LEGISLATION **

roundtable: TPR-NE ** MARCH 15 FORUM ** CONGRESSIONAL TELECOMM LEGISLATION **

TPR-NE ** MARCH 15 FORUM ** CONGRESSIONAL TELECOMM LEGISLATION **

hkklein@MIT.EDU
Sun, 05 Mar 1995 11:44:46 EST 

From: hkklein@MIT.EDU
Message-Id: <9503051644.AA12103@puttanesca.MIT.EDU>
To: roundtable@cni.org,
Subject: TPR-NE ** MARCH 15 FORUM ** CONGRESSIONAL TELECOMM LEGISLATION **
Date: Sun, 05 Mar 1995 11:44:46 EST


               [Please cross-post and distribute*83 lines]
                   [Boston*Mar15*Telecom*Publ Interest]
 
          Telecommunication Policy Roundtable--Northeast presents
 
                 NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS LEGISLATION:
                   LOCAL ISSUES AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST
 
                        Wednesday, March 15, 7 PM
        Emerson College, 180 Tremont St. (at Boylston), 12th floor
                    $5.00 donation requested at the door
 
The new conservative Congress has put telecommunications legislation on the
fast track. On March 15, Telecommunications Policy Roundtable--Northeast
(TPR-NE) will host an evening presentation and discussion on the radical 
proposals now being considered. Come to the forum to learn and ask questions!
 
Do you want your television provider to know what you watch and when?
How would you like it if one corporation owned the Boston Globe, WGBH, and
your cable company?  Should your electric company be allowed to enter the
phone and cable business?  All are possible under proposed legislation.
 
Will deregulation promote competition or monopolization?  Will the
benefits of the information superhighway reach only the wealthy?  Will
America's have-nots be left further behind?  What's the future of public
access television -- Rest In Peace?  Does Sesame Street constitute elitist
and unfair competition to the non-stop violence of commercial TV?
Proposals now before Congress will influence all these issues.
 
The goals of this forum are to:
 
1.  Summarize the different regulatory positions being advanced in Congress
(provisions for ownership and control of the media, competition vs.
concentration, low-cost access, guarantees of universal service, etc.)
 
2.  Understand the local implications of the proposals.  Will state and local
government lose the right to grant franchises and charge for right of way use?
 
3.  Understand the public interest implications.  Will public, educational,
governmental (PEG) cable access continue?  Will it apply to new video
providers, like the phone company?  Will privacy be protected?  
 
Panel participants include:
* Congress - Ted Hill, Telecommunications Staff for Senator Ted Kennedy
  (Other Massachusetts Congresssional staff have been invited as well.)
* Local Government - Peter Epstein, National Association of Telecommunications
  Officers and Advisers (NATOA)
* Regional Telephone Company - John Waring, NYNEX
* National Public Interest - Jim Horwood, Alliance for Community Media
* Public Access TV - Hubert Jessup, Boston Neighborhood News
* Cable Television - to be arranged
* Moderator - Hans Klein, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility 
 
-->> For more information on the program:  Hans Klein, 617-876-9127,
     hkklein@mit.edu
-->> For more information on the event and for press relations, contact
     Phyllis Haynes, 617-421-0111
-->> For more information on TPR-NE, contact Coralee Whitcomb, 617-356-4309
     cwhitcom@bentley.edu; Paul Johnson, 508-653-5987 pjbrady@delphi.com
 
                    --> Upcoming TPR-NE Events <<--
 
April 20:  Health Stops on the Information Highway
May 17:    Designing the Next Millennium's Communications Infrastructure:
           For Whose Benefit?
 
          ABOUT THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY ROUNDTABLE -- NORTHEAST
 
Since 1992, a coalition of non-profit and public interest groups concerned
     about the future of the information superhighway has been meeting in
     Washington, D.C.  This group is known as the Telecommunications Policy
     Roundtable (TPR).  Its members include public access television
     professionals, computer professionals, activists, libraries, museums,
     media watchdog groups, educators, and many more.  The TPR-Northeast
     brings together local counterparts of the national coalition in order
     to further the public interest in telecommunications policy -- with a
     focus on shaping the telecommunications environment in the Northeast US.
 
To subscribe to the TPR-NE electronic mail list on the Internet, send the
     message "subscribe tpr-ne yourfirstname yourlastname" (leave out the
     quotes) to listserv@mitvma.mit.edu - there's no need to put anything
     in the subject field (it's ignored).

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