Sender: "Fred G. Athearn" <•••@••.•••>
>>>>> "Richard" == Cyber Rights <•••@••.•••> writes:
Richard> It'd be as if a building architect were to
Richard> ignore the fact that a previous building on his
Richard> site slid down the hill last time it rained.
More like hiring the termites who ate the last building to
design the new one.
Richard> It is this layering system which has provided
Richard> commodity communications and commodity
Richard> equipment -- out of which it has been possible
Richard> to assemble Internet from off-the-shelf
Richard> components and services.
Good point. We take this situation for granted, but it
would not have happened without the old system of
telecommunications regulation.
If anyone doubts this just think of how easy it would have
been for the phone companies to have kept full control of
any digital communications via phone wires and to have
managed the market in such a way as to only sell high priced
business applications.
Even in this area they would have likely forced people to
use one a a few applications on the main frame of the
company. They would have taken the position that they were
in charge of the wires and (for technical reasons which only
they understood) they had to control all data transmissions
in order to protect the system.
Richard> They knew exactly what they wanted, hired
Richard> enough lobbyists and congress-folk to achieve
Richard> it, and are now engaged in a merger-frenzy --
Richard> as a prelude to their anticipated
Richard> feeding-frenzy.
They are not losing any time with this here in the northeast
what with the NYNEX/Bell Atlantic merger. They are saying
that the reason they will only be laying about 5% of the
workforce is that they will be expanding internet related
activities.
Richard> I invite everyone to wake up and smell the
Richard> coffee, if they haven't already.
I've been up for some time. (Hi Richard its been a while.)
Richard> I can remember (as an adult) when it was
Richard> illegal to attach a non-Bell phone set to your
Richard> line, to use a non-Bell modem or extension
Richard> cable, or to concentrate two calls onto one
Richard> wire.
Now some of the telco types are pushing for a law that would
make it illegal to use voice over the internet with the
intent to avoid long distance charges. (The remote wiretap
capability the government intends to pay the telcos to add
to switches would be necessary to enforce that naturally.)
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Sender: •••@••.••• (Bart Preecs)
I'm not sure I agree with previous postings that the Telecomm Law is law and
we might as well get used to it. I know the huge margins that passed the
bill are intimidating, but I'm old enough to remember that the Tonkin Gulf
resolution was passed by an equally bipartisan landslide, and the issue was
ultimately revisted.
Telecomm regulation was originally passed in 1927 and revisited in 1934. I
don't think it's out of line to begin preparing public opinion for a second
look at this issue. I think auction of TV spectrum may well open up a lot
of possibilites for discussion. Especially if the news continues to be
filled with mega mergers like Bell Atlantic-NYNEX and the PacTel-SWBell
merger. Where's the competition?
I have a much longer rant on the interesting subject of Congress and the CDA
on my web page, and so will refrain from commenting on the debate over:
Was Congress bribed? Or merely stupid ? What was crucial: $$$ from
Telecomm or votes from Christian Coalition?
One point I'd like help on.
I remember seeing a comment to the effect that the House passed its version
of the telecomm bill without a single minute of public hearings by any
committee or subcommittee. The Senate had no hearings and only one hour of
debate. Can this possibly be true?
Bart Preecs
1629 Davison Ave, Richland WA 99352, USA
Ph: 509-946-9076 / Fx: 509-946-8202
email: •••@••.•••
http://www.well.com/~bartlee 'Front Page, Home Page'
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Posted by Andrew Oram - •••@••.••• - Moderator: CYBER-RIGHTS (CPSR)
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