From tap-info@essential.org Fri Aug 4 18:49:46 1995 Received: from essential.essential.org (essential.org [198.4.52.1]) by eff.org (8.6.12/8.6.6) with ESMTP id SAA12960; Fri, 4 Aug 1995 18:49:45 -0400 Received: from (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by essential.essential.org (8.6.10/8.6.10) with SMTP id SAA26278; Fri, 4 Aug 1995 18:44:01 -0400 Date: Fri, 4 Aug 1995 18:44:01 -0400 Message-Id: Errors-To: tap-info-owner@essential.org Reply-To: love@essential.org Originator: tap-info@essential.org Sender: tap-info@essential.org Precedence: bulk From: James Love To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Ralph Nader on HR 1555 - asks Clinton to stand firm on veto X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas MIME-Version: 1.0 Status: RO ----------------------------------------------------------------- TAP-INFO - An Internet newsletter available from listproc@tap.org ----------------------------------------------------------------- TAXPAYER ASSETS PROJECT - INFORMATION POLICY NOTE the following letter was sent by Ralph Nader to President Clinton, asking the President to stand firm on his promise of a veto on HR 1555. for more information, James Love, work 202/387-8030; or 703/522-4380; love@tap.org August 4, 1995 President Bill Clinton president@whitehouse.gov Dear Mr. President: Today's passage of HR 1555, the telecommunications measure, is a major blow to consumers. In passing HR 1555, the House of Representatives has: 1. stripped state governments of many of their traditional powers to regulate telephone rates, even when consumers are served by monopolies; 2. deregulated cable television rates, even when consumers are served by monopolies; 3. provided for much greater concentration in the ownership of telecommunications and media outlets, by - raising or eliminating many existing national and local ownership limits for broadcast radio and television, - eliminating many existing limits on cross-ownership of broadcast licensees and non-broadcast telecommunications or media businesses, - allowing telephone companies to acquire a huge chunk of the cable systems in their own service areas, and - allowing incumbent broadcast television license owners to control up to 6 new digital broadcast television channels in the same market; 4. turned its back on more open access to telecommunications networks by: - limiting the FCC's ability to require interoperability or open architecture for the new broadband networks, - failing to include last year's "open platform," which would have required telephone companies to provide a low cost switched digital service over the existing telephone infrastructure, and - allowing telephone companies to offer video services as a closed "cable system" rather than under the common carrier video dialtone concept. I urge you to hold fast to your commitment to veto this anti- consumer legislation. Sincerely, Ralph Nader --------------------------------------------------------------------- TAP-INFO is an Internet Distribution List provided by the Taxpayer Assets Project (TAP). TAP was founded by Ralph Nader to monitor the management of government property, including information systems and data, government funded R&D, spectrum allocation and other government assets. TAP-INFO reports on TAP activities relating to federal information policy. TAP-INFO is archived at gopher.essential.org in the Taxpayer Assets Project directory, and at http://www.essential.org/tap/tap.html Subscription requests to tap-info to listproc@tap.org with the message: subscribe tap-info your name --------------------------------------------------------------------- Taxpayer Assets Project; P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036 v. 202/387-8030; f. 202/234-5176; internet: tap@tap.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------