ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


February 1 9 9 4 /8 7

Washington
Hotline

Carol C. Henderson

G ore s p e a k s  on the 
Information H igh w ay
Telecom m unications policy 
is heating up as the Clinton 
A dm inistration re a d ie s  its 
own proposal and congres­
sional c o m m itte e s a p p e a r  
poised to act on som e ver­
sion o f pending bills. Vice­
President Gore outlined the 
p rin c ip le s u n d e rly in g  th e  
administration’s policy initia­
tive in a speech on D ecem ­
ber 21 at the National Press 
Club, and w as scheduled to 
announce further details in January.

In his D ecem ber speech, the V ice-President 
dem onstrated a com m endable understanding 
of technology as a m eans, not an end, saying 
that w e must “zero in not on the technology, 
but w hat w e use technology fo r . . . Most people 
today are primarily receivers o f information . . . 
In this decade w e will tra n sm it m ore an d  m ore 
as well . . . T he com m unications revolution 
recognizes each individual as a source o f infor­
m ation th at a d d s v alu e to  o u r com m u n ity  
and to o u r econom y." H e also em phasized that 
the inform ation highw ays m ust be tw o-w ay 
roads.

H owever, m ost o f the em phasis w as o n  the 
information m arketplace, w hich w ould include 
four major com ponents: private sector ow ners 
of the highways, m akers o f inform ation appli­
ances, inform ation providers (including indi­
viduals with inform ation they w ant to share or 
sell), an d  inform ation custom ers. “A nyone w h o  
wants to form a business to deliver inform a­
tion will have the m eans o f reaching custom ­
ers. And any person w h o  w ants inform ation 
will b e  able to choose am ong com peting infor­
m ation providers, at reasonable prices," G ore 
said.

To m anage a transition period, G ore a n ­
nounced that the adm inistration w ould “su p ­
port removal, over time, un d er appropriate con­
ditions, o f judicial an d  legislative restrictions 
on all types o f telecom m unications companies: 
cable, telep h o n e, utilities, television, an d  satel­
lite.” To d o  this, legislative and administrative 
proposals will b e prepared “after extensive co n ­
sultation w ith Congress, industry, public inter­
est an d  consum er groups, and state an d  local 
governm ents.”

Five principles will u n ­
derlie the adm inistration’s 
initiatives: 1) to encourage 
p riv a te  in v e stm e n t, 2) to 
prom ote and protect com ­
petition, 3) to provide o p en  
access to the netw ork, 4) to 
avoid creating a society o f 
information haves an d  have 
nots, and 5) to encourage 
flexibility.

Access to all
Regarding the fourth p rin­
ciple, Gore talked about the 

future o f universal service and indicated the 
m ost im portant step w as to  adopt policies re­
sulting in low er prices for everyone. But he 
adm itted that a regulatory safety net w ould still 
b e needed. “We cannot relax restrictions from 
legislation and judicial decisions w ithout strong 
com m itm ents an d  safeguards that there will be 
a 'public right o f w ay’ o n  the inform ation high­
way. We m ust protect the interests o f the p u b ­
lic sector . . . T hat’s essential in providing af­
fordable services for public education, public 
health, an d  g o v ern m en t.” And further, “less 
fortunate sectors o f the population m ust have 
access to a m inim um  level o f inform ation ser­
vices thro u g h  subsidies or o th er form s o f a 
public interest tithe.”

The principle of flexibility w ould m ean leav­
ing m any details to ap p ro p riate governm ent 
agencies in o rder to accom m odate technologi­
cal change, and “avoiding both extremes: regu­
lation for regulation's sake, an d  the blind ad­
heren ce to the d e a d  h a n d  o f a free m arket 
econom ist."

T h e  a d m in is tra tio n  is n o t sta rtin g  from  
scratch in crafting its ow n proposal, according 
to the Vice-President, w h o  m entioned several 
p ending bills introduced by key m em bers of 
the congressional com m ittees w ith jurisdiction 
over telecom m unications policy. Measures re­
ferred to included the Brooks-Dingell bill (H R. 
3626), the Markey-Fields bill (H.R. 3636), and 
the D anforth-Inouye bill (S. 1086). Senate com ­
mittee chairm an Ernest Hollings is w orking on 
an o th er bill. ■

Carol C. Henderson is deputy executive director o f 
ALA s Washington Office, bitnet: cch@alawash.org

mailto:cch@alawash.org