656 lines
25 KiB
Plaintext
656 lines
25 KiB
Plaintext
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NETWORKS AND COMMUNITY : December 26, 1993
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compiler : Sam Sternberg samsam@vm1.yorku.ca
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The fifth report of this weekly survey includes:
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LEGISLATION & REGULATION FUNDING
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DISCUSSIONS NEW SERVICES EVENTS
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CORRECTION
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Steve Cisler wrote to communet and to me to point out several
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errors of fact in my last bulletin.
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">WHY FREE-NETS AND CIVIC NETS HAVE YET TO BE MENTIONED IN
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WHITE HOUSE MATERIALS.
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>1 - The White House does not understand the benefits of civic
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networks.
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White House staffers Tom Kalil, Mike Nelson, and Jock Gill are all
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well aware of civic networks; they meet with Gore on a weekly basis
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to discuss telecom issues. The NTIA is aware of community networks
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too.
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You may have missed the references to civic/community networks in
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the September 1993 "NII, Agenda for Action"
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>1 - THE CENTER FOR CIVIC NETWORKING ... >Although almost
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dormant to date, the CENTER may yet prove a major actor in the work
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to shape future legislation.
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I think Richard Civille and Miles Fidelman of CCN might take
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exception to this statement. They sponsored a roundtable in April
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which helped educate a lot of government people about community
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networks, and they were instrumental in getting the section on
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community networking in "NII, Agenda for Action". Civille has been
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particularly active in working with policy makers in DC and at the
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state level, and in the Technology Policy Roundtable, a group of
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non-profits that draws about 75 participants to discuss legislation
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on a regular basis.
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>WHY ACCESS PROVISIONS FOR SPECIAL POPULATIONS ARE
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NEEDED.
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>1 - Almost no classrooms presently have phone access.
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Mike Roberts of EDUCOM estimates that about 10% of the schools in
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he US have some sort of access to the Internet, but I agree that
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individual classrooms lack much connectivity.
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[ I do not believe that the last number is correct - sam ]
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LEGISLATION & REGULATION
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The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission has
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launched a public inquiry on how to regulate the
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telecommunications industry during the transition to effective
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competition. [ Interested readers should take advantage of this
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opportunity to monitor a progressive regulatory agency. State
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Agencies will be critical players in the implementation of Federal
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regs around the NII.]
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As part of this investigation, Commission staff has
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prepared a discussion paper which explores developing trends in
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communications technology and market structure and defines basic
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policy objectives that a new telecommunications regulatory
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structure should accomplish.
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Traditionally, Commission inquiries have been open to the
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public but have rarely gone beyond comment from the regulated
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industries and their major customers. The discussion paper
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contends that "in a converged marketplace, local telephone
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service will inevitably become simply one component of a multi-
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media service package." Thus, the Commission is actively seeking
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a wider range of comment from existing and potential
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communication network providers as well as informed consumers.
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The discussion paper, "Alternative Regulation of U S West:
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Toward a New Paradigm" eschews the current popular fascination
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with specific technology deployments. Instead of defining an
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outcome where customers pay for services they may not want, the
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Commission's paper believes the state should foster a
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communications marketplace where the customer has a wide array of
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choices from competitive providers. Essentially, the message is
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that the ultimate and only bottleneck should be the limitations
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of the human mind.
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First round of comments are due by January 31, 1994.
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The Notice of Inquiry, with the associated discussion paper
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on the Alternative Form of Regulation, is available via anonymous
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FTP on the Internet. Connect to the host at:
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FTP.GOVT.WASHINGTON.EDU,
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cd to the directory: /wutc, then:
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get NOI_ON_THE_AFOR.txt
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FUNDING
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Grant Opportunity for RURAL Math and Science Classrooms
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[ SEE the related RURAL items on the rural datafication conference
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under events; and on ACOA under new services ]
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Four thousand math and science teachers in rural areas
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will gain access to new teaching tools through a grant from the
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Annenberg/Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) Math Science
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Project. Annenberg/CPB, joined by the US West Foundation, is
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providing $2.5 million to five projects designed to help rural
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elementary and secondary educators learn how telecomputing can
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bring a new world to their classrooms.
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Roseville Minnesota-based TIES (Technology and Information
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Educational Services) will receive $184,500 to implement one of
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these five projects.
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TIES' proposal is entitled Teacher On-line Projects.
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Teacher On-line Projects is designed to develop on-line computer
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communication services to support rural middle school classrooms
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(teachers and students) in the application of problem-solving
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skills for community-based projects to improve their mathematics
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and science skills.
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A Teacher On-line Projects Advisory Board has established proposal
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guidelines and plans are being made for the initial winter training
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seminar (March 10-12).
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The application deadline is February 18. To receive an application
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packet, contact Sue Soine at TIES (612-638- 8780).
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OR
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Send an e-mail request to: halvor@ties.k12.mn.us
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--------------------------------------------------
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DISCUSSIONS
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The north american section of the Internet was almost silent on
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Christmas day. Generally discussion was light during the week.
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The largest amount of heat without light was generated by the new
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HOTT listserv. This was designed to transmit the excellent HOTT
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newsletter once a month. One befuddled newbie sent a subscribe
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message and an avalanche of email from other newbies and angry but
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not wiser subscribers descended. It is a good thing the nets can't
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be used for physical assaults !
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Fundraising issues continue to be discussed on a number of
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listservs. Several people reported existing schemes for charging
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users of services and justified the imposition of these fees.
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Others continue somewhat ineffectively to seek alternative to fees.
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But, the tone of the discussions are growing more accepting of the
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notion of fees. One organization in Canada is providing free
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service but charging Fees for membership. In North Dakota an
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educational service has imposed a sliding scale fee system.
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The most interesting post suggested that "One mechanism that should
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be explored is a public telecommunications trust fund, generated
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from spectrum usage, franchise, and user fees. Local, regional,
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and national projects involving public usage could be funded in a
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similar manner as the National Telecommunications and Information
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Public Telecommunications Facilities Program or its National
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Endowment for Children's Educational Television. [ the U.S.
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administration is clearly looking at this possibility ]
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----------------------------------------
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The Canadian Freenet listserv discussed a possible meeting between
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those interested in civic nets and representative of the Telcos.
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[This would be very welcome given statements by a representative of
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Stentor that there was not enough time to involve the public in
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discussion about the information highway in Canada.]
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-----------------------------------------
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COMMUNET has been discussing the Gore speech. Much of the focus is
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on the has focused on a preceived lack of government awareness of
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the dangers of commercial exploitation retarding the growth of
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publicly available information.
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Writers worried about the price of information on a commercially
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run networks remaining out of reach of the truly poor despite
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government and business assurances.
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One warned about "the inability to separate the issue of open
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access from the issue of the price of information. Just how can
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the mythical little girl in Al Gore's example dial up all those
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books and pictures if her parents are not rich? Just how can we
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avoid replicating "savage inequalities" online without bankrupting
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the Treasury? And how to drive down the cost of hardware for the
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little girl to use?
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The media's lack of understanding of these issues was decried.
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[Perhaps its time for each of use to give an reporter a tour of the
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Internet - with time on a civic net of course.]
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Another interesting thread discussed the value and dangers of
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maintaining a partly regulated environment during the transition to
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an open commercial net. The administration focused on the benefits
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of maintaining regulation in Gore's speech, but several people
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pointed out the long history of regulatory failures in the U.S.
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CYPHERWONKS LISTSERV is still both the scene of the electronic
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equivalent of a cafeteria food fight and the host of an excellent
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discussion on the role of Cryptography in promoting electronic
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democracy. [see the trends section for a brief discussion on
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cryptographies virtues and dangers ]
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Also seeing the light of day are some excellent comments on the use
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of the nets to present a fast and largely self correcting system of
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reports on events and personalities affecting our governments.
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[ I keep hoping the food fight aficionados will take up Voodoo and
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use their psychic powers to attack each other - thereby leaving the
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listserv available for the intended discussions. They have already
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driven many former participants away.]
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NEW SERVICES
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SUPERHIGHWAY BULLETIN BOARD. The White House Information
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Infrastructure Task Force has set up a "superhighway" bulletin
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board designed to give the public access to schedules, committee
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reports, and minutes of task force meetings. It will also include
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documents on the creation of the NII. [ This will be a godsend for
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those of us interested in following the progress of the NII at the
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federal level.]
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You can connect with this system by:
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1 - telnetting to:
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iitf.doc.gov (198.49.199.20
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login: gopher
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2 - gophering to:
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iitf.doc.gov
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3 - dialing:
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1-202-501-1920
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-----------------------------
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A VIDEO FROM THE INTERNATIONAL FREE-NET CONFERENCE held in Ottawa
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last August is now available for FREE. The video was produced by
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Thomas Whalen, Andrew Patrick, & Alex Black, it contains 3
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segments:
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1) "A Conference Summary" (10 minutes)
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- describes the purpose and themes of the conference
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- excerpts from speeches
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- interviews with participants
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2) "Reflections on FreeNet Development in Canada" (4 minutes)
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- quotations from participants about the importance of FreeNets
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for Canada, and how they can develop
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3) "Keynote Speeches" (67 minutes)
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- the entire speeches presented by:
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- Michael Binder, Industry & Science Canada
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- Peter Calamai, Ottawa Citizen
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- Tom Grundner, NPTN
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Total running time is approximately 81 minutes.
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It does not present an introduction to FreeNets, but rather a
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summary of the FreeNet conference and what was said about FreeNets.
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The audio for Tom Grundner's speech is poor, but usable. The tape
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is presentable, but not as polished as one would like.
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If you want a copy of the video, mail a new blank videotape (VHS
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format, T90 or T120 size) and a return mailing label. Send these
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to:
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Dr. Andrew Patrick
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Division of Behavioural Research
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Communications Research Centre
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Department of Communications
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3701 Carling Ave.
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P.O. Box 11490, Station 'H'
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Ottawa, ON CANADA K2H 8S2
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-------------------------------------------------
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In Montreal a new BILINGUAL FREENET is being planned:
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- Discussions concerning the Montreal Freenet are carried out
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via a listserv - to subscribe:
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| mail listserv@vm1.mcgill.ca
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echo sub mtlnet Yourfirstname Yourlastname
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For more information contact :Sean Marrett
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email: sean@pet.mni.mcgill.ca
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wb213, Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute.
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3801 University St., Montreal, Quebec. H3A 2B4
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tel:(514)-398-1537,1996 Fax: 8948
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-------------------------------------------
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Tim Kitching kitching.tim@statemail.sa.gov.au
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is looking [ on behalf of an australian state gov. ] - to communet
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for information on three areas:
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- Multimedia kiosks (like InfoCalifornia) for public information
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and services
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- Dialup access for business information and services
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- Freenets as the base for local information with links to central
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databases
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In reply to his request information was provided about a system
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serving Newfoundland, Canada called the ACOA/Enterprise Network.
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"We are a publicly funded operation who's mission is to "Transform
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the rural economy by leadership in information technology
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applications for economic development."
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Basically, what we have done is established six electronic
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Enterprise Centres (Telecentres) within our province of
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approx 400 sq. km. and a provincial data resource relating
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mainly to business and economic development. We have
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approximately 600 people throughout the Province accessing
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our databases through home &/or office computers. These
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people include some government personnel, social / economic
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development agencies and private business. We have
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approximately 25 databases available to our dialin clients
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(everything from Statistical info, government telephone
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directories, government tenders, business
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opportunities, databases of manufacturers, lots of contact
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directories, and of course, Internet access.)
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our Telecentres are loosely modelled on European telecottages
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and provide a variety of services. Our main goal is to
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introduce rural Newfoundlanders to networking
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and assist in adapting the technology to a user's business idea or
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opportunity. We provide assistance in seaching a variety of
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electronic information resources; provide assistance with
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business planning; assist local community groups; provide a
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wealth of computer hardware and software, FAX machines,
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photocopiers, etc. We are also providing linkages with the
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educational sector.
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I have, of course, much more information on our Network and
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the things that we are accomplishing in community economic
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development; and I also have quite a bit of information on
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the Telecottages already established in Scandinavia and in
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the British Isles if anyone is interested in receiving it.
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Yvonne Bradbury-Wiseman, Telecentre Co-ordinator
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ACOA/Enterprise Network
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Box 429
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Baie Verte, Newfoundland, Canada A0K 1B0
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ywiseman@mailer.entnet.nf.ca
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Phone: 709 532 4364
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FAX: 709 532 4374 "
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--------------------------------------------------
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For extensive information about the Canadian domain visit
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Gopher -> gopher.fonorola.net
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Stangelove's INTERNET BUSINESS JOURNAL archive is also located
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here, as a very extensive version of the Usenet news system.
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Mr Strangelove will also be providing the complete text of the
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Directory of Internet Trainers and Consultants (First Edition) and
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the Directory of Electronic Journals and Newsletters (Third Edition
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in the next few weeks.
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---------------------------------------
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Other information about networking in Canada can be found in
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ISCNEWS. It will distribute the News Releases and Fact Sheets
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issued to the public by the Communications Canada section
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of Industry and Science Canada. The News Releases are
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information regarding Canadian government communications
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policy. The Fact Sheets contain information about
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developments in communications technology and
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applications in Canada. To subscribe to the list, send e-
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mail to: listserv@debra.dgbt.doc.ca
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in the body of the message write the command:
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subscribe iscnews Firstname Lastname
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Industry, Science Canada Gazette Archive
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Archives of Gazette Notices are available via FTP and
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Gopher
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FTP: debra.dgbt.doc.ca
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Directory: /pub/isc/iscnews
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-------------------------------------
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A more general view of Canadian government activities and a long
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list of e-mail addresses for Canadian officials is available from:
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gopher -> copper.emr.ca
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--------------------------------------
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New U.S. databases of interest to community network developers are
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also coming on line:
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THE INTERNET MULTICASTING SERVICE MULTICAST GORE'S SPEECH LIVE over
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the global Internet computer network. Over 200 comments and
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questions from the general public were received before and during
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the speech by electronic mail. Mr. Gore was asked some of the
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questions and at the conclusion National Press Club President
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Clayton Boyce presented the Vice President with a floppy disk
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containing all the electronic mail received before 12:50 EST.
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This kind of instant feedback from the public to policy makers is
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a concrete example of the vision spelled out by Mr. Gore. Recent
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statements by the Vice President and by Congressional leaders
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outline a key principle: access to advanced information services
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must be available in our inner cities, our schools, our
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libraries, our homes, and throughout our society.
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In response to the call by Vice President Gore and Congressional
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leaders for wider accessibility by the public to government
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information, the Internet Multicasting Service, a non-profit
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corporation, announced that it will be making available on
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the Internet a series of databases including:
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Federal Election Commission 1992 and 1994 Election Cycles
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Federal Reserve Board Releases for 1993 and 1994
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U.S. Patent Office Full Text/APS Format for 1994
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Data paid for by the American taxpayers must be broadly available
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to the American public and not sold off to the highest bidder.
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For each of the three databases announced today, the government
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agencies were extremely cooperative and supportive of our
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efforts. All of government can learn by the examples set by the
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Patent Office, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Federal
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Election Commission.
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Send mail to info@radio.com for more information.
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Funding for on-line access to information is provided by our
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sponsors, including Sun Microsystems, O'Reilly & Associates,
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UUNET Technologies, MFS Datanet, Persoft, and by a grant from the
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National Science Foundation.
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----------------------------------------------
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The Federation of American Research Networks (FARNET), in
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cooperation with The Coalition for Networked Information, is
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making a collection of Internet stories available on the Internet
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which provide concrete EXAMPLES OF HOW THE NETWORK IS BEING USED
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to further research, education, industry and manufacturing, the
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health services industry, and more.
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[This material can be incorporated into your fundraising materials
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to show the benefits of net access.]
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these stories are now available on the network -
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via ftp
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URL:ftp//ftp.cni.org/CNI/documents/farnet/stories
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via Gopher
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URL:gopher://gopher.cni.org:70/11/cniftp/miscdocs/farnet
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via BRS/SEARCH
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URL:telnet://a.cni.org/brsuser
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For additional information about FARNET or the FARNET stories
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project: Martha Stone-Martin FARNET
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stories@farnet.org
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-------------------------------------
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A NEW LIST HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED TO FACILITATE DISCUSSION ABOUT
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS REGULATION
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on the local, state, and federal levels. Topics of immediate
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interest include implementation of the 1992 Cable Act, convergence
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in the global sense of technologies and on the corporate level of
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cable/telco mergers, the National Information Infrastructure
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(electronic superhighway) Agenda, and the future of wired and
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wireless networks. Any other related (or nonrelated) issue can
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also be raised and discussed.
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Anyone may subscribe:industry participants are welcome as well as
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regulators, academics, consumers.
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To subscribe to TELECOMREG --- Send the following message:
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SUBSCRIBE TELECOMREG YOUR NAME
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send to: listserver@relay.adp.wisc.edu
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All postings to the list should be sent to:
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telecomreg@relay.adp.wisc.edu
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EVENTS
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An unusual teleconference is to be held on " On Jan. 5, 3:30-5
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p.m., there will be a national teleconference on the CPB grant
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proposal, aimed mainly at being public television and radio
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stations up to speed about "what are community networks".
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CPB has an RFP out and would like to fund 10 projects
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as demonstrations of online computer systems involving public
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television or radio stations. The stations don't have to run the
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systems, but I think the hope is that a dialogue will begin and
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partnerships will emerge as a new communications future is forged
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at the community level.
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For the purposes of the teleconference, the information is
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ree-Net heavy, that is, they will show the Heartland Free-Net video
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and Tom Grundner will be in a studio taking live calls from around
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the country afterward, but I have been told that is NOT to
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discouage non-Free-Net systems or alliances.
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The teleconference can be seen *only* at public television
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stations, So contact your local station to arrange to be present.
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This will not be shown on the stations broadcasts. It is only for
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those attending in the studio.
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----------------------------------------------
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An important upcomming conference :
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RURAL DATAFICATION II: MEETING THE CHALLENGE OF PROVIDING
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UBIQUITOUS ACCESS TO THE INTERNET
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May 23-24, 1994
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Hyatt Regency Minneapolis
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Minneapolis, Minnesota
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|
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You are invited to send proposals for papers and workshops!
|
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----------------------------
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DATES FOR PAPER AND WORKSHOP SUBMISSIONS
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Abstracts due:
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|
February 15, 1994
|
|
Authors/presenters notified: March 15, 1994
|
|
|
|
REGISTRATION MATERIALS AVAILABLE mid-March, 1994
|
|
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FEES and DEADLINES
|
|
$ 99.00 before April 15, 1994
|
|
$125.00 after April 15, 1994
|
|
|
|
Focusing on issues of rural networking, the goal of the conference
|
|
is to bring together people from institutions of higher education,
|
|
rural school districts, libraries, state and local government,
|
|
business, network access providers, and others who are involved
|
|
with developing, managing, funding, and using networked information
|
|
resources in underserved areas.
|
|
|
|
More information on Rural Datafication II, the Rural Datafication
|
|
project, and other CICNet activities is available.
|
|
Via e-mail: ruraldata-info-request@cic.net
|
|
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|
-------------------------------------------------------
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|
|
A Canadian commercially oriented Conference: The Information
|
|
Superhighway (Toronto, Feb 1-2 1994)
|
|
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 93 21:13:37 GMT
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|
|
|
Sponsored by the Information Technology Association of Canada:
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|
|
|
[As is almost always the case in Canada - THERE IS NO E-MAIL
|
|
ADDRESS PROVIDED - Canadian government and business types talk a
|
|
good game but they would really rather not touch the nets
|
|
themselves.]
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|
|
|
The Information Superhighway: A Conference on "Powering up North
|
|
America". Be in Toronto February 1-2, 1994 for a meeting of
|
|
great minds of the Twentieth Century, devoted to the great
|
|
challenge of the Twenty-First! Hear confirmed speakers:
|
|
|
|
Vinton Cerf, President, Internet
|
|
James Cullen, President, Bell Atlantic
|
|
Stan Davis, Author and Analyst
|
|
Rudiger Dornbusch, MIT
|
|
Larry Ellison, CEO, Oracle Systems Corp.
|
|
William Esry, Chair, Sprint Corp.
|
|
George Gilder, Author "Telecosm"
|
|
George Harvey, Chair, Unitel
|
|
Sheryl Handler, Chair, Thinking Machines Corp.
|
|
Terry Matthews, CEO and Chair, Newbridge
|
|
Sue Miller-Hurst, the Educare Project
|
|
Bill Murphy, Chair, Info Testbed Project
|
|
Nicholas Negroponte, MIT Media Lab
|
|
Russell Neuman, Media Lab
|
|
Hon. Bob Rae, Premier of Ontario
|
|
Ted Rogers, President and CEO, Rogers Communications
|
|
Wes Scott, President and CEO, Stentor Resource Centre
|
|
Don Tapscott, Author and DMR Fellow
|
|
|
|
Contact: Tel 416-862-9067
|
|
Fax 416-862-2238
|
|
|
|
Barry Gander
|
|
Information Technology Association of Canada,
|
|
Suite 402, 2800 Skymark Avenue, Mississauga, Ontario L4W 5A6
|
|
Tel: (416) 602-8345 Fax: (416) 602-8346
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TRENDS
|
|
|
|
|
|
1. ENCRYPTION and its role in the future of the nets is a growing
|
|
topic of conversation. A number of listservs are dealing with
|
|
this subject. It is already clear that it will be a mixed
|
|
blessing. It will facilitate financial transactions, encourage
|
|
a sense of real privacy, make voting safe and effective,
|
|
prevent impersonation of real persons, etc. On the other hand
|
|
it will nullify the impact of any laws intended to prevent
|
|
copyright enfringement. It will permit the use of the nets to
|
|
violate laws against the distributions of certain types of
|
|
materials, and it will make it easier to create artificial
|
|
persons and use them in a variety of ways.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2. CONVERGENCE OF THE TELECOMMUNICATION MEDIA MOVE ON.
|
|
|
|
EMI Communications Corporation announced that it will
|
|
test market a newly created Internet access information service
|
|
with Adelphia Communications Corporation's Syracuse, NY system.
|
|
The information service, which allows cable operators to give
|
|
subscribers cost effective computer access to information networks
|
|
via their cable, will be offered to Syracuse cable subscribers in
|
|
early 1994. EMI expects to offer nationwide system availability in
|
|
early 1995.
|
|
|
|
According to Gil Korta, vice president of marketing at EMI, the new
|
|
information service will give cable subscribers the ability to
|
|
connect directly to Internet as well as government offices,
|
|
universities and library systems. Working in conjunction with the
|
|
cable operator, EMI will also integrate system-specific local
|
|
information such as school events and local news.
|
|
|
|
The test market will occur in a specific service area which
|
|
includes a respresentative sample of business and consumer
|
|
subscribers. EMI will provide the necessary equipment to the cable
|
|
system, as well as assist them in the design, installation,
|
|
management and maintenance of the information network. The service
|
|
test will be provided FREE to participating subscribers.
|
|
.
|
|
|