roundtable: Turning Friends Into Enemies

roundtable: Turning Friends Into Enemies

Turning Friends Into Enemies

Vigdor Schreibman - FINS (fins@access.digex.net)
Fri, 19 May 1995 19:48:52 -0400 (EDT) 

Date: Fri, 19 May 1995 19:48:52 -0400 (EDT)
From: Vigdor Schreibman - FINS <fins@access.digex.net>
To: Vigdor Schreibman - FINS <fins@access.digex.net>
Subject: Turning Friends Into Enemies
Message-Id: <Pine.SUN.3.91.950519194659.12865A-100000@access5.digex.net>


----------------Original Message Posted in Multiple Lists----------------- 
------------------------Republication Authorized-------------------------- 
  
FINS: Communicating the Emerging Philosophy of The Information Age       
FEDERAL INFORMATION NEWS SYNDICATE                    
Vol III, Issue No. 10 (119 lines)                              May 22, 1995
    
     
                  READ THIS ISSUE OF FINS TO CONSIDER:      
                                                             
                *   A problematical preference for libraries and schools
                                          
                *   The fight for a public interest network infrastructure
    
========================================================================= 
 
 
CLOSING THE "VALUES-GAP": 
Turning Friends Into Enemies
By Vigdor Schreibman 
 
	Sen. J. Robert Kerrey (D-NE), sent an ugly letter to Mike Roberts, Vice
President of Educom, the other day, assailing Roberts for his opposition to
a measure intended to grant preferences for telecommunications services for
libraries and K-12 schools within the universal service system.  The fight
is over section 310 of the Senate Commerce Committee telecommunications
reform bill [S.652], the "Telecommunications Competition and Deregulation Act
of 1995," reported to the Senate Mar 30, 1995, which adds a new section 264
to Title II [Telecommunications Common Carriers] of the Communications Act. 
The proposed language of subsection (a)(2) of 264 says,
     Educational providers and libraries.--Any telecommunications
     carrier shall, upon receiving a bona fide request, provide
     universal service ... at rates that are affordable and not higher
     than the incremental cost thereof to elementary schools, secondary
     schools, and libraries for telecommunications services that permit
     such schools and libraries to provide or receive educational
     services. 

	Sen. Kerrey, who is supporting the measure proposed by Sen. Olympia J.
Snowe (R-ME), accused Roberts of "turning friends into enemies," by pitting
Educom, and its 600 or so institutions of higher education against the K-12
schools and libraries.  I think that the Senator's denunciation of Educom's
Mike Roberts, was unjustified.  In order to understand this fight between
those two sets of valued educational institutions, one should examine the
context of the larger issues involved in telecommunications infrastructure
reform now taking shape.

	At their Congressional briefing on public interest issues in
telecommunications, May 8, the public interest community made it clear that
they are uniformly appalled by the overall provisions of S. 652.  Andrew
Schwartzman, Executive Director of the Media Access Project, for example,
stated in response to a direct question by FINS on the subject, "overall this
legislation stinks ... we are dealing with the art of the possible."  There
are concerns over many issues: the "monster model" combining content and
conduit; abolition of restrictions on cross-ownership between cable and
telephone companies intended, according the techno-wizard George Gilder to
usher in a new Robber Baron era; the likelihood of massive increases of
between $20 to $40 billion in residential rates; dilution of television
broadcaster responsibilities, to increase profitability; deregulation of
cable television allowing massive rate increases to pay for high-cost junk
bond capital investments; and limitation of the vital role of the Department
of Justice in passing on antitrust matters during the transition period from
monopoly control to competitive conditions governing local telephone service.

	The meager benefits expected from section 310, clearly do not balance
out the awful nature of the reform package.  Unless the bill is radically
changed, support for section 310 by the 'public interest community would be
a mere mask for a calamity in the design of the emerging telecommunications
infrastructure.  Moreover, there are potentially corrosive structural flaws
in the rate preferences offered to schools and libraries by section 310.

	In an email messsage sent to FINS May 15, Roberts stated his view that
"the long term public interest has to serve more than the singular capitalist
interest...  There obviously are major externalities involved in broadband
infrastructure for the entire national and global society...."  The first
response by the United States to this need was through the creation of NSFNET
partnership in 1987, which was formed by NSF, IBM, MCI, and the University
and State of Michigan.  As Roberts told Sen. Kerrey, in a letter May 10,
     a very broad base of use was formed as a result of substantial
     commitments of time and personal resources by schools, regional
     consortia, state and local governments, and hundreds of corpora-
     tions across the country.  Independent observers have estimated
     that for every federal dollar invested in NSFNET, more than nine
     additional dollars was invested by colleges and universities and
     industry partners.  This project, which started as an experiment,
     has been an extraordinary success over the five years of its
     existence...  the subsidies in the recent NSFNET project supported
     not only higher education institutions, but many K-12 schools,
     libraries, public sector organizations and small businesses. 
 
	As a result of this broad partnership model, Roberts observed,
"Hundreds, if not thousands of community based projects are bringing the
Internet to schools, libraries and community centers through the initiative
of parents, service organizations, local business, students, teachers and
school boards."  Section 310, on the other hand, would bring a very limited
benefit to a limited constituency.  And Roberts noted, "since there are no
federal funds involved, none of the agencies active in the Internet [e.g.,
Educom's members!] would have the ability to play any leadership role."  
 
	Sen. Kerrey bluntly brushed off these arguments, responding, "Your
answer appears to be: Unless the feed is in our trough, it is not possible
for us to enjoy the benefits."  Nevertheless, the long term public interest
requires a sound public interest structure built around the existing network
successes.  The good fight being offered by Mike Roberts is leading the way.

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