Re: Should we oppose the Data Superhighway/NII?

[Mike Godwin <mnemonic@eff.org>]

Tim May writes:

> 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.

First of all, EFF's Open Platform says outright that the government is not
going to build the data superhighway. Check again if you don't believe me.

Second, I think it's possible that you may be conflating discussions of one
kind of superhighway--a government-funded and -operated one--with discussions
of what kind of superhighway we might ultimately have if private
enterprise builds it. EFF does not the establishment of a big government
operation--instead, it wants the government, since it's spending money on
connectivity and bandwidth for its own purposes, to spend the money in a
way that promotes an infrastructure that everyone can use.

Since the money is going to be spent by government no matter what, why not
get them to spend it in the right way?

Furthermore, EFF wants a world of less regulation of communications
providers, not more. But since we live in a highly regulated world
now (witness telephone service and cable), the issue is how to get to a
world with the least possible regulation and the most competition among
private-enterprise providers, and yet keep the benefits of Universal 
Service and an open communications system. For EFF, the way to do that is to
give communications conduit providers (who also will be content providers)
incentives to keep the channels as open as the public highways are.
This doesn't involve big, expensive government projects; what it requires
is policies with a vision of an open market, built on an open
infrastructure, in the 21st century.

But don't think that, in the absence of EFF-supported policy, you don't
get data superhighways. Tim, you're going to get those no matter what.
The only question is whether you get something like what the interactive
cable companies promoted at Hackers--just an enhanced version of the Home
Shopping Network--or whether you get something like the current public
switched network, in which individuals can use a phone line for whatever
they like.



--Mike