by Audrie Krause
On February 8, the first anniversary of the Telecommunications Reform Act of
1996, NetAction and the Center for Educational Priorities are launching a
month-long Internet demonstration to call attention to the wide gap between
the rhetoric and reality of this sweeping legislation.
President Clinton and Congress promised the American people that enactment
of the Telecommunications Reform Act would lead to a cornucopia of
technological innovations that would change the nation's cultural frontiers,
expand our choices, dazzle our eyes, and inform our minds. Instead, we've
been censored in cyberspace, subjected to TV ratings systems, and prevented
from experiencing the benefits of a truly competitive marketplace by the
emergence of "cartels" created by mega-mergers in the telecommunications and
media industries.
This is not reform! And it's not too late to demand that our decision
makers deliver on what they promised us on February 8, 1996: MORE
competition, MORE consumer choices, MORE widespread access to information
technology.
The Center for Educational Priorities and NetAction are spearheading this
demonstration in an effort to pressure the Federal Communications Commission
and other state and national regulatory agencies to ensure that the Act is
implemented in a way that truly benefits the public. We invite you to join
this effort by linking to the site at
http://www.cep.org/protest.html
for one month beginning on February 8. By linking to the protest site, you will
be adding your voice to a united demand for true telecommunications
reform.
The site is currently under development. When completed, it will feature
brief summaries of the impact the Act has had in its first year on
telecommunications and technology policy, media ownership and content, and
censorship, along with suggested actions to help ensure that implementation
of the Act truly benefits the public. We are also creating extensive links
to other organizations working on these issues, as well as to other sites
with current information on censorship, mega-mergers, universal service,
school hook-ups, and the v-chip.
We welcome suggestions for additional links to add.
Please let us know if you will participate in the demonstration by
contacting NetAction, by email at
akrause@igc.org, or by phone at
415-775-8674. Thanks!