Our policy proposal, available here or by anonymous ftp on ftp.eff.org in /pub/Eff/papers/op2.0, contains a discussion of these principles and concrete legislative recommendations on how to accomplish many of these goals. Here are a few selected paragraphs from the main paper to give a flavor of our positions, but we hope you'll read the whole thing.

Regulatory changes should be made, and mergers approved or barred based on specific, enforceable commitments that the electronic superhighways will meet public goals and realize the potential of digital technology. That potential arises from the extraordinary spaciousness of the broadband information highway, contrasted with the scarcity of broadcast spectrum and the limited number of cable channels that defined the mass media era. Properly constructed and administered, the information highway has enough capacity to permit passage not only for a band of channels controlled by the network operator, but also for a common carriage connection that is open to all who wish to speak, publish, and communicate on the digital information highway. For the first time, electronic media can have the diversity of information we associate only with the print media.

But we can't rely on the promises of industry or the wonders of the competitive marketplace alone to create this infrastructure. We need legislative benchmarks to ensure that all citizens have access to advanced information infrastructure. We will achieve this goal not by having government build the whole thing, but by finding a new communications policy framework that works for the market and brings benefits to consumers.

We've expanded the concept of "Open Platform Services" from just narrowband ISDN, to include any switched, digital service, offered on a common carriage basis, by any provider.

To achieve the full potential of new digital media, we need to make available what we call Open Platform services, which reach all American homes, businesses, schools, libraries, and government institutions. Open Platform service will enable children at home to tie into their school library (or libraries all around the world) to do their homework. It will make it possible for a parent who makes a video of the local elementary school soccer game to share it with parents and students throughout the community. Open Platform will make it as easy to be an information provider as it is to be an information consumer.

Open Platform services provide basic information access connections, just as today's telephone line enables you to connect to an information service or the coaxial cable running into your home connects you to cable television programming. This is not a replacement for current online services such as America Online or Compuserve, but rather is the basic transport capacity that one needs to access the multimedia version of these information services.

Specifically, Open Platform service must meet the following criteria:

Open Platform service itself will be provided by a variety of providers over interconnected networks, using a variety of wires, fiber optics, coax cable, and wireless transmission services. But however it is provided, if it is affordable and widely available, it will be the on-ramp for the nation's growing information superhighway.

Rather than a narrow focus on stopping or delaying the proposed mergers, policy makers should use the leverage of the moment to create a new Communications Act that serves the public interest.

The Administration and Congress can create and prompt the deployment of open platforms by using the political leverage at its disposal. Bell Atlantic, TCI, Time Warner, US West and others involved in recent mergers are all promising to build open platforms. Telecommunications giants are asking policymakers for permission to enter new markets or to form new, merged entities. Rather than per se opposition to current mergers, or mere reliance on competition to build the data highways, make the mergers and other accommodations conditional on providing affordable open platform services. The terms of this new social contract should be written into a new Communications Act, revised for the information age. With a real "social contract" in hand, we just might realize the Jeffersonian potential of the data superhighways.

Together with a coalition of public interest groups and private industry, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is working to establish Open Platform objectives in concrete legislation. Open Platform provisions, which would cause near term deployment of Open Platform services, are present in both the recent Senate infrastructure bill and the latest draft of House telecommunications legislation, soon to be introduced. We are also working with the Administration to have Open Platform policies included in the recommendations of the Information Infrastructure Task Force. In addition to federal policy, critical decisions about the shape of the information infrastructure will be made at state and local levels. Since 1991, EFF has been working with a number state legislatures and public utility commissions to have affordable, digital services offered at a local level. As cable and telephone infrastructures converge, we will also work with local cable television franchising authorities. We invite all who are concerned about these issues to join with us in these public policy efforts.

We hope that everyone will have a look at our new proposal, and join in to help us.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE OPEN PLATFORM CAMPAIGN CONTACT:
Daniel J. Weitzner, Senior Staff Counsel, djw@eff.org

EFF DOCUMENTS ON THE SUBJECT (in ftp.eff.org):

Open Platform Campaign: Public Policy for the Information Age
/pub/eff/papers/op2.0
/pub/eff/papers/op2.0.ps.z
/pub/eff/papers/op2.0.readme -> .../announce.op2

Senate Telecommunications Infrastructure Act of 1993 (S. 1086)
/pub/eff/legislation/infra-act-s1086
/pub/eff/legislation/infra-act-s1086-summary

EFF Testimony on Senate Infrastructure Bill
/pub/eff/legislation/kapor-on-s1086

This material is also available via WAIS and gopher from wais.eff.org and gopher.eff.org, respectively. If you do not have access to any of these net tools, feel free contact us for assistance.

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Subject: EFF Welcomes Mary Beth Arnett, Staff Counsel

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Subject: Please Help Us Get EFF's BBS Up and Running!

The EFF BBS will provide a full mirror of our FTP/gopher/WAIS archives, as well as networked messaging, including FidoNet's and UseNet's relevant conferences, such as BBSLAW, SYSLAW, comp.org.eff.talk, alt.security.pgp, alt.politics.datahighway, and more. The board will serve as a place for those with modems but no Internet access to get the information they need to avoid pitfalls and to support campaigns to preserve our rights online.

However, money does not grow on trees, and EFF is asking for contributions of hardware donations so that the project can get rolling. Our wish list:

Basic system components

For non-critical components (i.e., anything but MB/CPU, HD and modems), we'll certainly consider used equipment.

BBS software has already been donated, though various other software is still needed (utils, editors, Fido mailer, etc.)

All donors will receive a note of thanks in EFFector and on the BBS in a permanent bulletin. Note that donations are tax deductible.

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Subject: Statistics Needed for Analysis of Lost Crypto Sales

Therefore, WE NEED YOUR HELP.

If you or your firm has lost business because you have not been able to export your encryption product, please let us know. Be as specific as possible. It is the cumulative effect of this information that will be most compelling.

Please pass this on to those in your firm who might know about these matters or might also be able to respond.

Please send replies here or to i.rosenthal@applelink.apple.com or to
Ilene Rosenthal,
General Counsel
Software Publishers Association
1730 M St. NW, Suite 700
Washington DC 20036
(202) 452-1600 ext. 318

or to

Douglas Miller
(same address)
(202) 452-1600 ext. 342

When sending this information to SPA, please also send a copy to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, as both SPA and EFF are working on this issue, and both organizations aim to reduce the ITAR restrictions on cryptographic technology. You can send your information to eff@eff.org.

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Subject: Retrieving the National Information Infrastructure Documents

Information on the National Information Infrastructure is available both electronically, in print and in CD-ROM. Please note that some information varies at each site and can include daily updates from the White House, press releases and briefings, background information, and reports.

As additional documents and retrieval sources become available, we will update this factsheet.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Retrieving an electronic version -- at no charge
A. Retrieval via electronic bulletin board
B. Retrieval via electronic mail
C. Retrieval via gopher and telnet
D. Retrieval via anonymous-ftp

I. RETRIEVING AN ELECTRONIC VERSION -- NO CHARGE

A - VIA ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARDS

1) Bulletin Board at Fedworld (National Technical Info. Service)

Set software parameters for: N-8-1
Dial: (9600 baud) 703-321-8020

B - VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL

1) send a message to: almanac@ace.esusda.gov

Depending on the information you are looking for, using the commands below, you will receive the information you request.

TO RETRIEVE: TYPE:

Agenda for Action send niiagenda

Technology for Economic Growth Catalog send nii-tech catalog

C - VIA GOPHER AND/OR TELNET

1) gopher ace.esusda.gov (Extension Service, USDA)

To get to this gopher, type:
gopher ace.esusda.gov

From the Main Menu, choose:

5. Americans Communicating Electronically/...
3. National Information Infrastructure documents

2) gopher sunsite.unc.edu (University of North Carolina)

To get to this gopher, type:
gopher sunsite.unc.edu

Sunsite Archives
12. National Information Infrastructure Information/
4. Technology Initiative Summary/

3) telnet gopher.nist.gov
Telnet to: gopher.nist.gov login as "gopher".

Choose the menu item "DOC Documents". Choose "niiagenda.asc".

D - VIA ANONYMOUS-FTP

1. Internet The package is available in ASCII format through anonymous FTP and Gopher. The name of the file is "niiagenda.asc". Access information and directories are described below.

FTP:
Address: ftp.ntia.doc.gov

Login as "anonymous". Use your email address or guest as the password. Change directory to "pub".

Address: enh.nist.gov
Login as "anonymous" using "guest" as the password.

Address: isdres.er.usgs.gov
Login as "anonymous". Use your email address or "guest" as the password. Change directory to npr.

The package also may be present in a self extracting compressed file named "niiagend.exe". Remember to issue the binary command before "getting" the compressed file.

E -- BULLETIN BOARD ACCESS

Bulletin Boards The package is available for downloading on the following bulletin boards:

Name: NTIA Bulletin Board
Phone: (202) 482-1199
Communications parameters should be set to either 2400 or 9600 baud, no parity, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit. The package is available under the "press releases" menu item as "niiagend.asc" (ascii) and "niiagend.exe" (compressed-self extracting).

Name: Department of Commerce Economic Bulletin Board
Phone: 202-482-1986 (voice instructions for subscription information)
This is a "fee for service" bulletin board. Subscribers may download the "niiagenda" document for normal on-line charges. Non-subscribers may subscribe for $35 and download the report for no additional charge. Free telnet access and download services are available through the Internet by using the address: ebb.stat-usa.gov. Use trial as your user id.

Name: FedWorld On-line Information Network
Phone: (703) 321-8020
Communications parameters should be set to either 2400 or 9600 baud, no parity, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit. To access "niiagend.asc" from the FedWorld menu, enter " What Else is Available?

We currently have information on the National Initatives available for access in various ways. To find out more on what is available, Send a message to the following addresses.

NAFTA nafta@ace.esusda.gov
Health Security Act health@ace.esusda.gov
National Performance Review npr@ace.esusda.gov
National Information Infrastructure nii@ace.esusda.gov

Each one of these has information on how to access the documents for your areas of interest.

The most up-to-date version of this document can be obtained by sending mail to:

nii@ace.esusda.gov.

Do not place any text in the body of the message.

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Subject: NSF Digital Library Open Meeting - Dec. 6

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Administrivia

================================================

MEMBERSHIP IN THE ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION

================================================

Print out and mail to:
Membership Coordinator
Electronic Frontier Foundation
1001 G Street, NW, Suite 950 East, Washington, DC 20001

I wish to become a member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. I enclose:
$__________ Regular membership -- $40
$__________ Student membership -- $20

Special Contribution

I wish to make an additional tax-deductible donation in the amount of $__________ to further support the activities of EFF and to broaden participation in the organization.

PAYMENT METHOD:

___ Enclosed is a check payable to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

___ Please charge my:
___ MasterCard ___ Visa ___ American Express

Card Number: ___________________________________________

Expiration Date: _________________________________________

Signature: ______________________________________________

NOTE: We do not recommend sending credit card information via the Internet!

YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION:

Name: _________________________________________________

Organization: ____________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

Phone: (____) _______________ FAX: (____) _______________ (optional)

E-mail address: __________________________________________

PREFERRED CONTACT

___ Electronic: Please contact me via the Internet address listed above.
I would like to receive the following at that address:

___ EFFector Online - EFF's biweekly electronic newsletter (back issues available from ftp.eff.org/ pub/EFF/Newsletters/EFFector).

___ Online Bulletins - bulletins on key developments affecting online communications.

NOTE: Traffic may be high. You may wish to browse these publications in the Usenet newsgroup comp.org.eff.news (also available in FidoNet, as EFF-NEWS).

___ Paper: Please contact me through the U.S. Mail at the street address listed above.

PRIVACY POLICY

EFF occasionally shares our mailing list with other organizations promoting similar goals. However, we respect an individual's right to privacy and will not distribute your name without explicit permission.

___ I grant permission for the EFF to distribute my name and contact information to organizations sharing similar goals.

This form came from EFFector Online (please leave this line on the form!)

-------- 8< ------- cut here ------- 8< --------

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Administrivia

The Electronic Frontier Foundation
1667 K St. NW, Suite 801
Washington DC 20006-1605 USA
+1 202 861 7700 (voice)
+1 202 861 1258 (fax)
+1 202 861 1223 (BBS - 16.8k ZyXEL)
+1 202 861 1224 (BBS - 14.4k V.32bis)
Membership & donations: membership@eff.org
Legal services: ssteele@eff.org
Hardcopy publications: pubs@eff.org
General EFF, legal, policy or online resources queries: ask@eff.org

Editor: Stanton McCandlish, Online Services Mgr./Activist/Archivist (mech@eff.org)
This newsletter printed on 100% recycled electrons.

Reproduction of this publication in electronic media is encouraged. Signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of EFF. To reproduce signed articles individually, please contact the authors for their express permission. Press releases and EFF announcements may be reproduced individ- ually at will.

To subscribe to EFFector via email, send message body of "subscribe effector-online" (without the "quotes") to listserv@eff.org, which will add you to a subscription list for EFFector.

Back issues are available at:

ftp.eff.org,/pub/EFF/Newsletters/EFFector/
gopher.eff.org,1/EFF/Newsletters/EFFector/
http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/Newsletters/EFFector/

HTML editions available at:

http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/Newsletters/EFFector/HTML/ at EFFweb.

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