CPSR NII Paper

[Dave Banisar <banisar@washofc.cpsr.org>]

  CPSR NII Paper
                    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:	
Todd Newman (CA) 415-390-1614
Eric Roberts (CA) 415-723-3642
Coralee Whitcomb (MA) 617-356-4309
Marc Rotenberg (D.C.) 202-544-9240




     COMPUTER SCIENTISTS RAISE SOCIAL AND DESIGN CONCERNS
                     ABOUT THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY



Palo Alto, Calif., October 25, 1993  --  In the wake of sudden 
corporate mergers and rapid technological developments, Computer 
Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) today voiced concern 
that the planned information superhighway will not realize its full 
potential.  The public interest organization put forward specific 
guidelines for the National Information Infrastructure (NII) in a 
paper titled, "Serving the Community:  A Public-Interest Vision of 
the National Information Infrastructure."  Urging the Clinton 
Administration to move quickly to adopt these principles, CPSR 
President Eric Roberts said, "Although there is widespread agreement 
on general goals, there is no specific plan to ensure that these goals 
are met."

"It is much easier to state a vision than to achieve it, " said Dr. 
Roberts, who is also Associate Chair of the Computer Science 
department at Stanford University.  "And there are many dangers on 
the horizon that threaten to compromise the value of the NII as a 
resource for the public.  

"For example, if a small number of companies dominate the market, 
we're in danger of stifling competition and innovation on the 
network.  If those same companies control the programming, then 
open and diverse speech is limited.  If pricing structures do not cover 
universal service, the average person and the poor will be struggling 
to use the backroads of the information highway.  If privacy isn't 
protected, your TV could keep more detailed records of your finances 
than the IRS.  And, if the NII is not designed to allow everyone to 
communicate freely and to publish their own contributions, it could 
become nothing more than a medium for delivering 500-channel 
television, with interactivity limited to home-shopping and trying to 
guess the next play during sporting events."

CPSR's paper expands on these dangers and makes specific policy and 
technical recommendations for the newly formed Information 
Infrastructure Task Force.  The Task Force is expected to coordinate 
network policy for the Clinton Administration.  

"In its 'Agenda for Action' document, the Administration has set forth 
a positive vision of what the NII can be," said Dr. Roberts.  "To 
achieve that vision, however, the government must play a major role 
in the design, development, and regulation of the network."  CPSR 
recommends that the Administration adopt the following policies:

o   Promote widespread economic benefits by evaluating the NII's 
    economic success using measures that reflect its impact on the 
    society as a whole, not merely the profits of NII investors and 
    service providers.

o   Evaluate the social impact of the NII by conducting periodic 
    reviews as the NII is implemented and used to guarantee that it 
   continues to serve the public interest.

o   Guarantee equitable and universal access through an appropriate 
    mix of legislation, regulation, taxation, and direct subsidies.

o   Promote the development of a vital civic sector by ensuring 
    resources, training, and support for public spaces within the NII 
    where citizens can pursue noncommercial activities.

o   Promote a diverse and competitive marketplace in terms of the 
    content carried over the NII.

o   Provide access to government services and information over the 
    NII.

o   Encourage democratic participation by ensuring full public 
    disclosure, and actively promoting democratic decision-making 
    and public participation in all stages of the development process.

o   Actively facilitate the seamless connection of America's NII with 
    the information infrastructures of other nations by working to 
    resolve such issues as security, censorship, tariffs, and privacy.

o   Guarantee the functional integrity of the NII by establishing 
    critical technical requirements including ease of use, widespread 
    availability, full functionality, high reliability, adequate privacy 
    protection, and evolutionary expansion.

The recommendations follow from a yearlong review of the NII 
conducted by CPSR.  The process included collecting more than 1,200 
suggestions for NII policy from network users across the country, 
drafting a report, holding special chapter meetings on the NII in 
Berkeley, Boston, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., and having a 
multiple-draft review process by the membership.  Final changes 
to the report were made at the annual meeting of CPSR, where the 
report was adopted unanimously by the CPSR Board of Directors.

Dr. Roberts noted that he was very pleased by the level of 
participation in the NII report.  "The computer community knows 
that the NII is the critical technological issue facing the United States 
today.  Our members were extremely responsive when we asked 
them to participate in this project, because they understand from 
their own experience how much the NII has to offer."

CPSR also worked closely with the Telecommunications Policy 
Roundtable (TPR), a coalition of more than sixty nonprofit, consumer, 
labor and civil rights organizations based in Washington, DC.  CPSR's 
paper endorses the principles set forth by TPR.  TPR will unveil its 
founding principles in a press conference, Tuesday, October 26th at 
10:00 a.m. at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

CPSR is planning a conference next April in Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, on the future of the NII, The Directions and 
Implications of Advanced Computing.  The conference will 
investigate at a more specific level how to achieve the principles 
in the CPSR report.

Founded in 1981, CPSR is a national, nonprofit, public interest 
organization of computer professionals and others concerned with 
the impact of computer technology on society.  With offices in Palo 
Alto, California, and Washington D.C., and 22 chapters across the 
country, CPSR works to encourage public discussion of decisions 
involving the use of computers in systems critical to society and to 
challenge the assumption that technology alone can solve political 
and social problems. 

CPSR's NII paper is available electronically by sending email to 
listserv@cpsr.org.  In the message write the command
"GET CPSR NII_POLICY"  The paper will automatically be mailed to 
you.  You can also FTP/WAIS/Gopher cpsr.org/nii/cpsr_nii_policy.txt.

For a hard copy of the paper or for more information about CPSR, 
call 415-322-3778 or write to cpsr@cpsr.org.  For information about 
the Telecommunications Policy Roundtable, contact Jeff Chester at 
202-628-2620 or cme@access.digex.net.


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