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Report
Networks and Community Compiled 002
NETWORKS AND COMMUNITY
Date : December 12, 1993
compiler : Sam Sternberg samsam@vm1.yorku.ca
The second report of this weekly survey will cover :
LEGISLATION - FUNDING - DISCUSSIONS - NEW SERVICES - TRENDS
and EVENTS
Much of this material was provided by the heroic forwarding
services of Gleason Sackman. Who forwards material from many
sources including NEW-LIST <NEW-LIST@VM1.NoDak.EDU>. This list is
an excellent source for tracking new services on the net.
===============================
LEGISLATION
Not everyone feels the marketplace has all the answers in the
search for the public interest.
The new U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Reed E.
Hundt, says: "There are thousands of buildings in this country,
with millions of people in them who have no telephones, no cable
television and no reasonable prospect of broadband services.
They're called schools." Saying that market mechanisms won't lead
to networks being built to the optimal social point, he feels
that government must step in to promote broader social goals.
(New York Times 12/6/93 C6)
Also this past week in an New York Times Op Ed piece; the
president of EFF is quoted as saying " Properly constructed and
regulated, it [ THE INTERNET ] could be open to all who wish to
speak, publish and communicate.
None of the interactive services will be possible, however, if we
have an eight-lane data superhighway rushing into every home and
only a narrow footpath coming back out. .... Every person
would have access to the entire superhighway, so programmers
could distribute information directly to consumers.
.........
Consumers would become producers: individuals and small
organizations could create and distribute programs to anyone on
the highway who wants them.
.........
To prevent abuses by media giants that, because of recent Federal
court decisions, will control the pipeline into the home and much
of the content delivered over it, we need new laws. Like today's
phone companies, the companies controlling the superhighway must
be required to carry other programmers' content, just as phone
companies must provide service to anyone who is willing to pay
for it. We must guarantee that anyone who, say, wants to start an
alternative news network or a forum for political discussion is
given an outlet to do so."
Americans will come to depend on the superhighway even more than
they need the telephone. The guarantee of universal telephone
service must be expanded to include universal access to the
superhighway. Although market forces will help keep the new
technology affordable, we need laws to protect consumers when
competition fails."
---------------------------------
EFF, the Electronic Frontier foundation ( the major watchdog of
U.S. gov policy on privacy and access to the Internet ) reported
that " the Government Accounting Office (GAO) -- an important
internal government investigative organization that's about a lot
more than accounting -- issued a report on communications
privacy.
The report makes four very important findings:
1. Privacy-protecting technology (crytopgraphy) is increasingly
important for protecting the security of business communications
and personal information. But federal policy is getting in the
way of this technology.
"Increased use of computer and communications networks, computer
literacy, and dependence on information technology heighten US
industries risk of losing proprietary information to economic
espionage. In part to reduce the risk, industry is more
frequently using hardware and software with encryption
capabilities. However, federal policies and actions stemming
from national security and law enforcement concerns hinder the
use and the export of U.S. commercial encryption technology and
may hinder its development."
2. The NSA's role in this area is has been extensive, and
possibly beyond the spirit of the Computer Security Act.
"Although the Computer Security Act of 1987 reaffirmed NIST's
responsibility for developing federal information-processing
standards for security of sensitive, unclassified information,
NIST follows NSA's lead in developing certain cryptographic
standards"
3. Opportunity for public input in the standards process has been
insufficient, leading to proposals like Clipper which lack public
support. "These policy issues are formulated and announced to the
public, however, with very little input from directly affected
business interests, academia, and others."
Full text of the report (GAO/OSI-94-2 Communications Privacy:
Federal Policy and Actions) has been made available by ftp from
GAO.
The document can be obtained from EFF's FTP site;
FTP EFF.ORG -> ~pub/eff/papers/osi-94-2.txt "
EFFector Online is published biweekly by:
Electronic Frontier Foundation
1001 G Street, N.W., Suite 950 East
Washington, DC 20001, USA
Phone: +1 202 347 5400, FAX: +1 202 393 5509
==============================
FUNDING
Educators from eight Great Lakes states who have creatively used
teamwork and technology in the classroom can now begin applying
for more than $400,000 in regional grants and scholarships,
through Pioneering PartnersTM for Educational Technology.
Created by the Council of Great Lakes Governors in 1991,
the program identifies educators who have worked with each other
and the community to use technology, changing the way students
learn and teachers teach.
Winning teams receive a $3,000 base grant and another
$2,000 in matching funds when a comparable amount is raised by
the team. The funds are used to help them tell their success
stories to others, so that the innovations expand to new
classrooms and schools.
According to Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, lead governor of
the project "Pioneering Partners has helped "speed up adoption of
educational technology in the states, offers important policy
insights to administrators and elected officials, and provides
yet another tool in our arsenal to improve the economic
competitiveness of the Great Lakes Region."
Applications and more information about the program can
be obtained by writing to: Pioneering Partners, Mail Code
INAAAJZ, 19845 U.S. 31 North, Westfield, IN 46074. The
application deadline is April 12.
The program was developed through a partnership with
GTE East, a regional telecommunications company headquartered
in Westfield, IN.
--------------------------------
Another municipally sponsored and partly funded net is on the way
and it is aiming at universal access. Steven Hodas writes,
"Of course, to be really helpful, you have to make certain that
homeless people and the poor have access to terminals and
assistance in using them. That's one reason why the
municipally-sponsored, real-soon-now Seattle Public Access
Network will be putting kiosks and workstations in shelters,
hospital waiting rooms, and public-assistance facilities."
================================
DISCUSSIONS
The following announcement lead to one of the most significant
analytic postings of the week. I hope that everyone involved with
debating pubic policy towards the Internet will read and head
these well though out criticisms.
NTIA ANNOUNCES UNIVERSAL SERVICE HEARING
>
> WASHINGTON D.C -- Assistant Secretary for Communications and
> Information Larry Irving announced today that the National
> Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and
the New Mexico State Corporation Commission (NMSCC) will hold a
> public hearing on "Communications and Information for All
> Americans: Universal Service for the 21st Century" on December
> 16, 1993. The hearing will take place from 8:00a.m. to
5:30p.m. > at the Technical Vocational Institute's Smith Brasher
Hall, 717 > University, S.E. (Room SB-100), Albuquerque, New
Mexico. ...... [ some further detail deleted ].
Putnam Barber [ an active participant on several listservs ]
immediately responded with the following critique:
This announcement illustrates several of the issues that will
need to be thought about as things proceed.
Issue I: Without answers to questions like the ones raised below
(and extensions), it's hard to know what to make of the
announcement itself. (In other words, announcements posted on the
net need to be constructed differently and to contain different
information from the traditional press release. Traditional
press releases assume an audience of knowledgeable intermediaries
-- reporters -- who can be relied upon to provide background and
context if the announcement is used as the basis for a story.
Simply posting a press release on the net, unfortunately,
does +not+ provide better public notice. Instead it creates a
long list of new questions -- see below :-) .
1. It's odd to have two such diverse 'sponsors' for a public
hearing. What use is going to be made of 'testimony' delivered on
this occasion? Is there a specific policy initiative -- in either
jurisdiction -- on which comment is sought? How will these two
different agencies use the testimony received?
2. Although the 'technology' of public hearings is well known,
it's still ambiguous. A lot is missing from this press release:
Are the 'witnesses' for this hearing already selected? If so,
who are they and how were they chosen? If not, how will time
during the day be allocated and who is expected to attend?
3. Saying that there will be 'a series' of these hearings places
this one in a very ambiguous status. Are people who are not in
NM expected to ignore this one and wait for 'theirs'?
4. Will the results of this hearing be reported? Of the
complete series? If so, by whom, when and how?
5. The questions listed (see below) are so huge that it's
impossible to imagine well framed answers from anyone except
researchers and advocacy organizations.
6. Hence what sort of notice should be expected? This press
release was issued on 12/2, and posted on 12/10 (probably not by
NTIA itself). Perhaps active participants in the policy
discussions had advance notice that enabled them to plan travel,
prepare statements, etc. It doesn't feel like a serious attempt
to solicit testimony from the 'general public' though, when the
event is announced with so short a lead time so little
information is given about the procedures that will be followed.
Issue II: Without new ways of understanding and conducting a
'public hearing,' placing an announcement like this on the net
cannot contribute very much to the process of creating 'good'
policy and strong consensus on a subject.
1. Will 'testimony' be accepted through the net and be made part
of the record at this or future hearings?
2. If there is a specific policy initiative of NTIA's at stake
here (which is clearly implied by the notion of a series of
public hearings in various locations) will there be a specific
process whereby NTIA solicits 'testimony' from the net in a
virtual hearing? +Should+ there be such an occasion? If so, how
will it be managed?
=> The questions NTIA raises seem promising as a test-bed for
policy formation using electronic tools, but there is no sign in
this announcement that any effort or thought is being given to
that possibility.
=> With better software and new attitudes, NTIA should be able to
solicit public comment on parallel questions directly from the
public using the net. If participants in COMMUNET have ideas
about how to urge them to do so, now seems like the time to do
it!
(In +this+ case -- which is not true in others -- the net-aware
part of the public is arguably acceptable as a stand in for
'everyone' because (a.) the issues are of most direct concern to
that portion of the population, (b.) that portion can easily be
seen as an appropriate surrogate for a larger group who are
unaware of their potential stake in the matter, and (c.)
including the net-aware portion increases dramatically the level
of participation in comparison with the numbers that can be
expected to attend even a very extensive series of public
hearings in various locations.)
---------------------------------------
Communet also confines to discuss the "price" of public
information. Glenn Tenney, tenney@netcom.com, clearly states the
public interest perspective " This type of pricing is one of the
most offensive things I've heard of. Sure, large lobbying groups
can afford to pay for it, but what about US? Can YOU afford those
prices? What about access to that information by people (voters
I might add) who are on food stamps and assistance?
No, it does not matter that some groups can afford to pay that
price, it is too high a price for our society to pay.
Tenney goes on to make several comments which apply with special
force to the situation in Canada where the Crown copyright
prevents public distribution of government documents; and where
some major power groups are advocating using public information
as a "profit center" for government.
"What is immoral are contracts by government agencies which
enforce the inequity of information haves vs. information
have-nots -- by charging "what the market will bear". Sure, a
large group can afford these rates, but *I* as an individual can
not! For example, if I want to keep track of how my
Congressperson voted on bills, the information is available
on-line for "only" $6,000 a year! Every lobbying group in DC
subscribes to these services, but I still can't find out the
answer -- I can ask each lobbying group and they will tell me the
voting summary for THEIR issues, but not ALL issues.
WE are the ones who elect these people and who vote on issues,
yet *WE* can't get the information. .......What we'd need to do
is to find funding to make sure that Internet nodes get into
every library!"
---------------------------------
The NPTN listserv continues to debate the relationship of
freenets to the commercial service providers. So are urging a
united freenet approach to selling services created on the
freenets; while others are asking the community to take the high
road and remember that "free" service is what the movement is
supposed to be about.
-------------------------------------
A list of recommended books or articles on technology and social
change appeared on the Cypherwonks list, which is continuing its
detailed discussions on the mechanisms for electronic democracy.
Reachable at cypherwonks@lists.eunet.fi : subscribe at
Listserv@lists.eunet.fi
"Defending Secrets, Sharing Data: New Locks and Keys for
Electronic Information" U.S. Congress, Office of Technology
Assessment, OTA-CIT-310, Washington, DC; US GPO, 1987.
The End of History and the Last Man_ by Francis Fukuyama,
The Free Press, 1992.
"The Perils of Secrecy", Steven Aftergood, *Issues in Science and
Technology*, Summer, 1992, pp. 81-88.
Twilight of Sovereignty: How the Information Revolution is
Transforming Our World_, Walter B. Wriston, Scribner's Sons,
1992.
Ithiel de Sola Pool (1983). Inventing the telephone: A
retrospective technology assessment of the telephone. Norwood,
N.J.: Ablex.
Melvin Kranzberg & Carroll W. Purcell, Jr. (1967). Technology in
western civilization. NY: Oxford University Press.
George Gilder, (1988). Microcosm
--------------------------------
An interesting discussion and list of services about
Applying community networks to issues like disabilities,
is appearing on the Communet listserv.
It includes fascinating comments like this, from a
"FreeNet conference here in Vancouver ....the panel with a
visually impaired woman. She said that they'd like to see flyers
online -- the junk mail stuff you get in your newspaper, from
dept stores, drugstores, Safeway, etc. They may annoy most people
as a waste of paper ... but they do advertise some great bargains
that the visually impaired can't find out about without having a
sighted person read it for them.
--------------------------------------
An effort to create a service for non-profits and NGOs has begun.
It has generated a great deal of interest. The Well gopher
manager has offered facilities but it still needs a home for a
listserv. If you can help, post a message to communet
--------------------------------------
The concept of the public interest and the uses of public
interest funds is taking several very different directions.
Both of these are genuinely in public interest, and I will let
the reader guess which project has received the largest amount of
public funding.
On the one hand, the Dorsai Embassy, Inc., a not-for-profit,
501(c)3 cooperation, provides computer hardware, software,
consulting, training and communications capabilities to other
501(c)3 groups, not-for-profits, community service groups, the
disabled, the disadvantaged and the general public.
THE DORSAI EMBASSY, THE BBS: Provides both fido-net and live
internet services to local groups and individuals. Contact is
via e-mail to system@dorsai.dorsai.org, or
info@dorsai.dorsai.org. Registration is via
system@dorsai.dorsai.org, or info@dorsai.dorsai.org. login as
new and press return at the password prompt. User accounts are
usually set up within 48 hours. Or direct dial at
(718)-729-5339, or (718)-729-6120.
-----------------------------------
On the other hand - The Texas Innovation Network
(TINS) will receive federal funding for a new project designed to
help market the vast array of technologies and inventions held by
[ TEXAS ] defense-dependent firms, federal laboratories and
universities.
TINS will compile data from the partners on their R&D efforts,
then provide the commercial sector with Internet access to
profiles of the available technologies.
TINS Executive Director Dan Morrison said, "This project will
create a more efficient technology marketing channel that can
easily be extended to include labs and companies nationwide."
TINS will use the Internet as the marketing channel because of
the network's worldwide accessibility and emergence as the
preferred communications medium linking companies, labs,
universities, and government.
The Texas Innovation Network (TINS) is a non-profit, 501(c)(3)
organization chartered by the Texas legislature to help establish
Texas as a world leader in scientific research and technology
business development. TINS has developed databases and
implemented an affordable, easy to use online service that is the
nation's most comprehensive state-funded technology information
service. As an information gateway, TINS provides the high
technology marketplace and the research community with unique
information products and services designed to encourage
technology transfer, stimulate research collaboration, and
promote economic development.
===========================
NEW SERVICES
While the Canadian legal situation regarding government data is
intolerable; some very heartening activities are underway.
Stephen Andrews reports " The CBC Radio Trial. Under this you can
find information on how to get transcripts, etc. Point your
gopher to gopher server at debra.dgbt.doc.ca and you will note
and Quirks and Quarks audio files! We will shortly be adding
features from Sunday Morning, Basic Black, Ideas, Air Farce and
so on."
Also " Government Services" -- still in the works "is a
Mosaic server to deliver the Open Government Pilot. This will
show the virtual house of commons on the opening screen with all
the seats as hypertext buttons. Click a button and an MPs face
pops up with info such as: contact by e-mail, committees, recent
speeches, etc. Each of these will be hypertext linked
into other files detailing eg committee mandates, chairpersons,
committee minutes and so on. You can see the potential. It will
open up government for users to be able to get swiftly info that
they want on any given subject, or, just check up on their MP.
We would eventually like to back-link it into a variety of
government databases"
-----------------------------------------
Also announced - MathMagic on the Internet
MathMagic, is a K-12 telecommunications project developed in El
Paso, TX that provides a strong motivator for students to use
computer technology while increasing problem-solving strategies
and communications skills. In a nutshell, MathMagic posts
challenges into each of four categories (k-3, 4-6, 7-9 and
10-12) to trigger each registered team to pair up with another
team and engage in an exchange of problem-solving dialog. When
an agreement is reached, one solution is posted for every pair.
Has it been done before?
========================
MathMagic has received wide ideological acceptance by hundreds
of present FidoNet users, because it addresses most of the
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards. It is now
expanding into the Internet.
for further information contact Alan A. Hodson
alanh@laguna.epcc.edu
-----------------------------------------
An opportunity to participate in the further development of one
of the most popular services for students on the internet arrived
from: NASA Spacelink II Project <xsl@xsl2.msfc.nasa.GOV>
WANTED: Suggestions for designing a new NASA Spacelink
system that will better meet the needs of K-12 educators and
students. Deadline: 12/31/93
IMPORTANT, PLEASE e-mail replies to:
suggestions@xsl2.msfc.nasa.gov (Please note that the address
element following the "@" is lower-case XSL-two, not XS-twelve.
Current users of Spacelink likely will understand our
interest in upgrading. Anyone unfamiliar with Spacelink can
Telnet to spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov or 192.149.89.61 to learn
more about the system. (Or call via modem at 205-895-0028.)
=========================
TRENDS
It always a pleasure to see a major improvement in the quality of
the Internet emerge. Along those lines is an increasing trend
toward annotating all of the data found there. A new gopher site
is the first to provide a complete annotated catalog of all of
its items including those it simply points to.
The Address for the server is: libfind.unl.edu 2000
They are very interested in users reactions to the catalog so
please send comments to DeeAnn Allison, Automated Systems
Coordinator University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE 68588-0410
deeanna@unllib.unl.edu
I found the service excellent and I can't wait till they find out
about hypertext.
-----------------------------------------
Cable based internet and telecom services are becoming more
important. They offer some hope of competition in the market.
That hope is lessened by the mounting instances of cross
ownership through new acquisitions by telcos and others. Canada's
BCE ( ma bell ) got into the game this past week.
" Cablevision of Boston, Continental Cablevision and Time Warner
Cable today demonstrated a breakthrough wireless
telephone call using interconnected cable television systems
bypassing the local telephone company. The demonstration, which
occurred at Faneuil Hall, illustrated how cable technology can be
utilized to create what developers call a Personal Communication
Network (PCN). PCN will give consumers a competitive choice in
the wireless communication market as the cable industry moves
towards seamless service areas on the electronic
superhighway."
The PCN makes use of existing cable systems to transmit voice,
data and video communications with increased clarity. Cable
transmissions are carried over fiber and coaxial broad band
networks, offering improved sound quality and capacity.
The Faneuil Hall test used existing Boston-area cable lines to
deliver a wireless phone conversation from Boston to Newton,
demonstrating how cable television infrastructure can be a
regional provider of wireless communications services.
The quality of voice transmission surpasses that of cellular
services. Because the cable television systems
are already in place, obviating the need for large capital
investments in infrastructure, the cable industry can offer a
cost-effective alternative to cellular telephone service.
-----------------------------
(PSI), the leading Internet access service provider (and the
company which temporarily cut of access to the Buffalo Freenet in
a dispute over the right of their University site to allow them
on the net - ed. ) and Ziff Desktop Information, (ZDI) a leading
provider of computer-related information, today outlined their
plans to distribute magazine multimedia content electronically
over the PSICable Internet system via ZDI's ZiffWire electronic
news service.
The PSICable service is a multi-megabit Broadband Internet access
service for organizations and individuals through cable
television systems. It will be first available to subscribers in
the Boston, MA area in February, 1994, followed by US wide
availability.
---------------------------------
Also noteworth is the growing discussion about advertising
appearing on several listservs simultaneously. It has generated
so much interest that M. Strangelove has started a new "free"
news column on the subject. This is not mere generosity, since
the subscription list will give him a wonderful database of
parties interested in Internet advertising - a subject dear to
his heart in the role of publisher of the subscription funded,
"paper only", Internet Business Journal - { on paper its harder
to avoid or resent the ads}
For further information about the INTERNET ADVERTISING REVIEW, a
freely distributed Internet column by Michael Strangelove;
contact Mstrange@Fonorola.Net
THIS NOTICE ACCOMPANIED THE FIRST ISSUE.
Copyright (C) 1993 by Strangelove Internet Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved. This document may be archived for public
use in electronic or other media, so long as it is maintained
its entirety and no fee is charged to the user; any
exception requires written consent from Strangelove Internet
Enterprises.
( It is touching to see that his promotional materials are
available without charge - ed. )
=====================================
EVENTS
INAUGURAL MEETING: Council for Public Information.
Wednesday, January 19, 1994, 2:00pm.
Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto.
FOR INFORMATION:
Please contact Stan Skrzeszewski at 519-473-7651, or
Internet:sskrzesz@julian.uwo.ca,
.
