NII PRIORITIES: A SAMPLING OF VIEWS FROM THE NII ADVISORY COUNCIL -- from the INFORMATION POLICY ON

[David Farber <>]

[4]
                  NII PRIORITIES:  A SAMPLING OF VIEWS
                      FROM THE NII ADVISORY COUNCIL


     At its first meeting, the U.S. Advisory Council on the
National Information Infrastructure asked its members to prepare
short papers on the major issues that should be addressed.  Here
are excerpts from a few of the submissions.


ESTHER DYSON, EDventure Holdings, Inc.
     The priorities we should address are:
     ...a definition of universal access (desirable) and
universal service (controversial). It clearly includes
interoperability of all systems, and the ability of content
providers (organizations and individuals) to disseminate content
as well as of individuals and organizations to receive it...
     ...the need for privacy -- ranging from technical means such
as robust encryption to laws guaranteeing individuals' ownership
and right to control information about themselves....
     ...recommendations concerning freedom of speech, common
carrier rights and obligations, and other constitutional issues.
     Note: Ms. Dyson has been asked to co-chair the Advisory
     Council's working group on privacy and intellectual property
     issues.


CRAIG FIELDS, Microelectronics and Computer Technology  Corp.
     The Council is uniquely positioned to clarify the national
intent for universal service....Many questions have not been
fully answered:...How will we pay for these universal services
selected from the national information supermarket -- do we need
an equivalent of food stamps?...
     If the Federal Government seeks to accelerate the enrichment
of the NII over the coming years, how can the taxpayer tell if it
is succeeding?  Can we identify just a few specific goals for the
NII over the next, say, seven years, in terms of information
services available to Americans; and lay out a road map of how to
get to there from here -- required technological accomplishments,
if any; needed regulatory reform; or whatever?


STANLEY S. HUBBARD, Hubbard Broadcasting Inc.
     There are many individuals and many organizations across the
country that have predicted new and innovative communications
systems for use within the NII.  Some of the ideas are practical
and economically feasible and some are not.  In order to
determine what will and will not work, what people want or do not
want, the marketplace must be totally free from any restraints by
which the government would pick "winners and losers."


MITCHELL KAPOR, Electronic Frontier Foundation
     The character of the NII is best seen in what it enables,
not what it is, for the NII is no more about fiber optics, than
modern painting is about paint.
-    The technical design of the NII will determine more about
its public usefulness than anything else. We have a choice to
make the NII open to a diversity of applications, information
sources and services, or to keep it closed to all but those who
own and operate the networks.
-    The NII may be a platform for the rich varieties of
individual expression, for the transaction of commerce, and for
exchange of ideas, or it may be nothing but 500 channels of least
common denominator programming entertainment. We must take steps
to ensure that the NII is more than just a repetition of the
failures and shortcomings of mass media today.


DELANO LEWIS, National Public Radio
     ...Without sound financial incentives, private sector
players will be reluctant to provide the investment dollars
needed to make the NII a reality.  [The Council should] identify
and articulate the economic incentives that need to be in place
to encourage completion of the NII without creating an artificial
bias for or against particular technologies or transmission
media.  The protection of intellectual property rights is an
important concern that has both usage and financial implications.
     But if the terms of access to our Nation's information
resources -- and the content of those resources themselves --
were to be determined on the basis of financial incentives alone,
I believe that all of us, in the long run, would be the poorer
for it....  The Council must also plan to address the ways in
which non-commercial entities can continue to contribute to the
wealth of information that the NII will make accessible, and
continue to have access to that information on reasonable -- and,
in some cases, even preferential -- terms.


ALEX MANDL, AT&T
     The evolving NII may require a new definition of "universal
service."  ...Any discussion of a new definition needs to be led
by consumers, government and industry. It must be a public debate
to balance the many stakeholders involved with public subsidies.
     New approaches to providing "widespread access" for
underserved populations need to be explored. For instance,
libraries, community centers and schools, which have long been
places where people acquire information and develop skills, are
examples of locations at which a reasonable selection of
information appliances and access to NII communications services
and information resources could be made available.


VANCE OPPERMAN, West Publishing Co.
     The NII must be defined by two strong guiding principles:
It must be Universal, Accessible, and Affordable.
     True to the American ideal of equality, the NII must connect
all of us with one another -- regardless of place, regardless of
race -- regardless of disability or non-disability, age or
income....  It must be Information Rich....  The NII is only
useful when it is chock full of information -- information put
there by, and used by, people who are confident that they are
guaranteed:
-    First Amendment Free Speech;
-    Copyright and Intellectual Protections.
     Creative expression, and the incentive to create, are
protected and encouraged not only by the First Amendment, but
also by society's guarantee that the products we create are
respected as ours. And we are entitled to be compensated for
creative efforts.
-    Privacy. Americans don't want millions of digital neighbors
and government gumshoes reading our mail or clucking over our
cholesterol counts.