[8672] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: EFF Op-Ed on National Information Infrastructure
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (barney@databus.com)
Tue Nov 30 14:14:10 1993
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 93 13:50:03 -0500
From: barney@databus.com
To: com-priv@psi.com
>From: djw@eff.org (Daniel J. Weitzner)
> ... Properly constructed and regulated, it
>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. Instead of settling for a multimedia version of
>the same entertainment that is increasingly dissatisfying on today's TV, we
>need a superhighway that encourages the production and distribution of a
>broader, more diverse range of programming.
>
> The superhighway should be required to provide so-called open platform
>services. In today's channel-based cable TV system, program producers must
>negotiate for channel space with cable companies around the country. In an
>open platform network, we would avoid that bottleneck. Every person would
>have access to the entire superhighway, so programmers could distribute
>information directly to consumers.
> ...
While I am not in general opposed to EFF's goals or tactics on many issues,
I _deeply_ resent the notion that I should not be _allowed_ to sign up for
an asymmetric service if such service is cheaper than symmetric service and
meets my needs.
Is there some idea here that if I "consume" more data than I "produce" that
I'm somehow being irresponsible, and not pulling my own weight? What
nonsense! In ordinary life, listening more than you talk is deemed a virtue.
While it is true that for the global Internet as a whole, barring broadcast
and multicast, bits out must equal bits in, I see no need to require that
of each user, nor to force each user to pay for that capability.
The notion that some particular technology is toxic or addicting and ought
to be banned has, imho, no place in the virtual world.
I will not claim that there is evil intent here, but I must say that such
proposals strike me as blatantly self-serving, from organizations which
are themselves, unlike most of the rest of us, primarily transmitters
rather than receivers.
Barney Wolff, Pres. Voice: 914-591-6572
Databus Inc. Fax: 914-591-5677
15 Victor Drive Internet: barney@databus.com
Irvington, NY 10533-1919 USA "At the corner of database & datacomm"
