[12694] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: EFF and the big bad T (tax) word [long]
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Bruce Fancher)
Thu May 26 11:55:05 1994
From: bruce@phantom.com (Bruce Fancher)
To: don.wills@swc.com (Don Wills)
Date: Wed, 25 May 1994 21:29:50 -0400 (EDT)
Cc: djw@eff.org, com-priv@psi.com, mech@eff.org, digital@phantom.com,
freedom@phantom.com
In-Reply-To: <9405251815.AA17332@psi.com> from "Don Wills" at May 25, 94 01:15:20 pm
[Don Wills] has written:
|
| With regard to the following position in EFF's Open Platform:
|
| >2. Direct subsidy to end users: EFF has supported direct goverment support
| >to subsidize network access for libraries, schools, and other public
| >institutions, where those institutions could not otherwise afford to be
| >online. We first made these arguments during congressional debates about
| >internet commercialization, and still, as far as I know, support this
| >notion. In 1992, when internet commercialization was still a relatively
| >unknown quantity, we predicted that market forces would go a long way
| >toward lowering prices and increases access, but that some institutions
| >might still need direct support. At the time, the monopoly internet
| >provider (ANS/Merit) and its supporters argued that if you opened the
| >internet market to competition, then many public institutions would never
| >be able to afford net access. As an alternative, EFF favored direct
| >support as a way to enable users to purchase service on the competitive
| >market, and because we recognized that some institutions would just never
| >have the resources to purchase access to the net.
| >
|
| Do you really advocate the federal government funding to local libraries
| and schools? Or do you advocate free or reduced rate network services to
| libraries and schools?
|
| If the latter - Why do we allow book and magazine publishers to charge the
| same or MORE for their products to libraries than they charge to
| individuals? Could it be that they wouldn't sell to them otherwise? Maybe
| we need to force (via regulation) book publishers to provide universal
| access and reduced rates to libraries and schools!
|
Good point.
| Don't you folks at EFF understand how ludicrous your position is?
|
Dumb question. Of course they don't.
| Don Wills
|
