Should we oppose the Data Superhighway/NII?

[tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)]

Mike Godwin writes:

> Before this goes much further, it would be nice if Tim and Robert
> could explain which project, precisely, they want to kill. I am very hazy
> as to what you're talking about.

Speaking for myself, natch, I object to nearly every aspect of the NII
as I have seen it described in the EFF info, the "Whole Earth Review"
article, the discussions with Kalil and Steele at Hackers, and the
material that has appeared in the EFF newsgroups and the new group
devoted to the Superhighway.

My objections are philosophical and broad, not just targeted at
specific proposals (e.g, the "equal access" provisions, the
subsidizing of bandwidth, the support of various special interest
groups).

There is of course no real "Cypherpunks agenda," per se, so my
comments that we should turn our attention toward killing the
Clinton/Gore proposal are rhetorical.

The various Nets, including "_the_ Net," should be further libertated
from government control, not made part of a plan for a National
Information Infrastructure.

There are some parts of the proposal I could support, such as making
it explicit that networks are common carriers and are not responsbile
for content (Kalil mentioned this in passing, and Jim Warren
enthusiastically agreed, as we all did). But this is more a matter of
legal interpretation (court rulings), I would guess.

Similarly, making government documents and such (laws, regulations,
Congressional Record, etc.)  available by ftp, gopher, WWW, etc.,
seems to be a Good Thing, and this could be done starting _today_.

But most other parts I cannot support, especially the underpinning
idea that the government needs to be involved in planning networks,
and that various groups in society need "fair access" to such
networks. And the idea that the government should set the specs for
a network to tie in with the National Health Insurance Plan--a point
repeatedly raised by Tom Kalil of the White House--is odious.

Since many folks here on this List dislike political talk--Clipper was
seen as an exception, I guess--perhaps this discussion should take
place on the new group devoted to the "datahighway"?

--Tim May


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