[10499] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Scenes from the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Committee...
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Paul.Rarey@ssf-sys.dhl.com)
Fri Feb 25 14:43:00 1994
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 94 06:17:54 -0800
To: ajs@merck.com, djw@eff.org, com-priv@psi.com
From: Paul.Rarey@ssf-sys.dhl.com
Absolutly Anthony...
Also the context of information being worthless unless you can charge for
"seeing" it is, well... this Operman just doesn't have a clue. Thanks for
some vision Mr. Sculley...:-)
At 12:01 PM 2/12/94, ajs@merck.com wrote:
> Sculley: I want us to think seriously about assuring that schools and
> libraries can have free access to information resources. Not just the
> transport, but the content as well. Certainly this has a cost
> attached to it, but it would be an invaluable investment in our
nation's > future.
>
> Operman: John, you couldn't mean that. If information is free than
> it's worth nothing.... I would be horror-stricken if the result of this
> committee was a consensus that all library resources were available
> for free anywhere around the NII. That would put an end to the US
> information industry.
>
>
>Yikes! What these so-called experts are missing is that if
>the promise of NII is to be fulfilled, the level of
>access any citizen has must at the very least duplicate
>what they have in a non-digital world. Will I be able
>to freely browse and use digital books like I can
>at my neighborhood library? Will I be able to freely
>browse around the electronic bookstore like I can in
>the local Barnes & Noble superstore?
>
>I know that there is a cost for my current "free" access,
>but I'm perfectly willing for my tax money to support
>digital access just like it currently supports the traditional
>library.
>
>
>--
>Anthony Starks Merck Research Laboratories ajs@merck.com
>
>
Cheers!
[ psr ]
