roundtable: Boston*Mar15*Telecom*Publ Interest

roundtable: Boston*Mar15*Telecom*Publ Interest

Boston*Mar15*Telecom*Publ Interest

Howard Frederick (hfrederick@igc.apc.org)
Mon, 6 Mar 1995 06:17:23 -0800 

Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 06:17:23 -0800
From: Howard Frederick <hfrederick@igc.apc.org>
Message-Id: <199503061417.GAA17200@cdp.igc.apc.org>
To: "Moderator of conference list.roundtable" <roundtable@cni.org>
Subject: Boston*Mar15*Telecom*Publ Interest


               [Please cross-post and distribute*87 lines]
                   [Boston*Mar15*Telecom*Publ Interest]

          Telecommunication Policy Roundtable--Northeast presents

                 NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS LEGISLATION:
                   LOCAL ISSUES AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST

                              March 15, 7 PM
        Emerson College, 180 Tremont St. (at Boylston), 12th floor
                        Green line stop:  Boylston
                        $5.00 donation at the door

     On March 15, Telecommunications Policy Roundtable--Northeast (TPR-NE) 
will host an evening presentation and discussion on the radical proposals 
now being considered in Congress.  If you don't think telecommunications is 
an issue for you, think again!  

     Do you want your television provider to know what you watch and when?  
How would you like it if a large corporation Murdoch 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, mechanisms for low-cost access, guarantees of universal 
service, etc.)

2.  Understand the state and local implications of the proposals.  Will 
local governments lose the ability to grant franchises?  Will new entrants 
have to pay for use of local rights of way?

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?  What level 
of service should be universal?

Panel participants include:
* Local Government - Michael Epstein, Nat'l Assoc. of Telecommunications 
  Officers
* National Public Interest - James Horwood, Alliance for Community Media
* Regional Telephone Company - John Waring, NYNEX
* Public Access TV - Hubert Jessup, Boston Neighborhood News
* Congress - Staff person from Mass. Congressional delegation
* 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/Emerson 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 New England telecommunications environment.

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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