On Sun, 21 Jan 1996, Richard K. Moore wrote: > Far from limiting their horizons to protecting voice tariffs, the telcos > (& cables) are grabbing the future with both hands. With their Reform Act, > they are setting down ground rules for the development of cyberspace which > will allow them to control and exploit the media revolution. And far from > being reduced to ordinary utilities, they are very specifically insuring > that they can use their immense capital reserves to secure vertical > monopolies encompassing content, transport, and distribution. I don't think the telcos understand too much about content, or ever will. Their idea of content is either TV, which people can get free anyway, or pay-per-view movies, which do not work. People prefer to go to the video store. The Internet is the only place that generates content in abundance, completely free. > o strong copyright language and enforcement Copyright is tearing at the seams when it comes to products of the information age. The Lotus/Borland fight demonstrates it. I don't think it will be possible to enforce laws that are so widely and easily disobeyed. > o all-the-traffic-will-bear pricing That's the key point -- with all that extra bandwidth, there will be a dramatic fall in prices. If not, once spread-spectrum becomes cheap, we'll create our own bandwidth. > o privatization of electromagnetic spectrum With all the improvements going on in technology, maybe we won't need that much. > o rapid depreciation of cyber investments I don't understand, please explain. > No, it won't have > the dynamism of the net -- not in terms of the democratization of public > dialog -- but that's one of the primary intended consequences of the new > regime. That, I think, is where the telcos will falter. The speed of developments on the net will sweep them off their feet, as telephony on the net threatens to do. Arun Mehta, B-69 Lajpat Nagar-I, New Delhi-24, India. Phone 6841172,6849103 http://mahavir.doe.ernet.in/~pinaward/arun.htm •••@••.••• •••@••.••• •••@••.••• "There is enough in the world for man's need, but not for his greed"--Gandhi
