############ ########## Volume 2 Number 6
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|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| EFFector
| | ONline
| PIONEER WINNERS HONORED AT CEREMONY |
| IN WASHINGTON, D.C. | eff@eff.org
| |
| THE EFF ISDN PROJECT:AN INTERIM REPORT | 155 Second Street
| | Cambridge, MA 02141
| EFF INTERNATIONAL: | (617) 864-0665
| E-Mail from John Perry Barlow in Japan |
| | 666 Pennsylvania Ave.SE
| | Washington, DC 20003
| | (202) 544-9237
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ENGELBART, KAHN, WARREN, JENNINGS AND SMERECZYNSKI
HONORED WITH EFF PIONEER AWARDS
AT SPECIAL WASHINGTON CEREMONY
During a ceremony at the Second Conference on Computers, Freedom, and
Privacy in Washington, DC this month the First Annual Pioneer Awards
were given to five individuals judged to have made substantial
contributions to the field of computer-based communications. The
finalists were selected by six judges from a field of over 200 nominees.
The winners were: Douglas C. Engelbart of Fremont, California; Robert
Kahn of Reston, Virginia; Jim Warren of Woodside, California; Tom
Jennings of San Francisco, California; and Andrzej Smereczynski of
Warsaw, Poland.
Nominations for the Pioneer Awards were carried out over national and
international computer-communication systems from November, 1991 to
February 1992. Many of the nominations came from people who read
EFFector Online and the EFF would like to extend its thanks to all those
on the Net who contributed to this effort.
The Pioneer Winners
Douglas Engelbart is one of the original moving forces in the personal
computer revolution who is responsible for many ubiquitous features of
today's computers such as the mouse, the technique of windowing, display
editing,hypermedia, groupware and many other inventions and innovations.
He holds more than 20 patents and is widely-recognized in his field as
one of our era's true visionaries.
Robert Kahn was an early advocate and prime mover in the creation of
ARPANET which was the precursor of today's Internet. Since the late 60's
and early 70's Mr. Kahn has constantly promoted and tirelessly pursued
innovation and heightened connectivity in the world's computer networks.
Tom Jennings started the Fidonet international network. Today it is a
linked network of amateur electronic bulletin board systems (BBSs) with
more than 13,000 nodes worldwide and still growing. He contributed to
the technical backbone of this system by writing the FIDO BBS program,
as well as to the culture of the net by pushing for development and
expansion since the early days of BBSing. He is currently editor of
FidoNews, the network's electronic newsletter.
Jim Warren has been active in electronic networking for many years.
Most recently he has organized the First Computers, Freedom and Privacy
Conference, set-up the first online public dialogue link with the
California legislature, and has been instrumental is assuring that
rights common to older mediums and technologies are extended to computer
networking.
Andrzej Smereczynski is the Administrator of the PLEARN node of the
Internet and responsible for the extension of the Internet into Poland
and other east European countries. He is the person directly
responsible for setting up the first connection to the West in post-
Communist Middle Europe. A network "guru", Mr. Smereczynski has worked
selflessly and tirelessly to extend the technology of networking as well
as its implicit freedoms to Poland and neighboring countries.
This year's judges for the Pioneer Awards were: Dave Farber of the
University of Pennsylvania Computer Science Department; Howard
Rheingold, editor of The Whole Earth Review; Vint Cerf, head of CNRI;
Professor Dorothy Denning Chair of Georgetown University's Computer
Science Department; Esther Dyson, editor of Release 1.0, Steve Cisler of
Apple Computer, and John Gilmore of Cygnus Support.
-==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-
REPORT TO THE NET:
THE STATE OF THE EFF OPEN PLATFORM INITIATIVE
The Vision and the Goal
Until recently the nation's telecommunications policy debate has been a
struggle among entrenched commercial interests. These interests have,
for over a decade, been arguing over who will control and dominate
markets such as information services, manufacturing, and long distance
service. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, seeking to act from a
perspective of what is in the public interest, believes it is time to
table this argument. The EFF believes it is essential to move forward
now and seek technological tools, an economic and regulatory climate,
and legislative accord that, working in synergy, will create an
information marketplace open to all. This new information marketplace
will be one that will encourage the rapid development of diverse
information services. It would be an online marketplace characterized by
freedom, accessibility, and affordability. In the place of the current
no-win tussle over who should dominate, we would substitute a more
democratic vision: "Everybody's in. Nobody's out."
For some month's now, the EFF has been developing a proposal which calls
for the speedy deployment of Narrowband ISDN as the platform of choice
to begin building a National Public Information Network today.
Narrowband ISDN is a low-cost, digital, switched platform for delivery
of information services over the public switched network.
Narrowband ISDN, if offered nation-wide, and priced at mass-market
rates, will serve as a transitional telecommunications platform until
national switched broadband options become available early in the 21st
century.
With Narrowband ISDN in place, information entrepreneurs of all kinds
large and small will be able to reach an ever expanding market in which
to offer text, video, and interactive multimedia services. Public
agencies, private communications services, computer companies,
publishing firms and individuals will be able to access an inexpensive,
widely available medium in which to publish and communicate
electronically.
Background
In the Fall of 1991, the Electronic Frontier Foundation testified before
the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance on the subject
of Bell company entry into the information services market. To maintain
diversity of information services, EFF proposed the rapid deployment of
a digital information platform, using existing technology and
facilities, which could be made available to all on a ubiquitous,
affordable, equitable basis. Our testimony to congress suggested that
narrow band ISDN could be such a platform. Our task became to
investigate whether or not this was actually the case.
What We Have Learned Since November
Following up on our initial proposal we have been exploring the
technical and economic feasibility of implementing ISDN. In the course
of these investigation, members of EFF in Cambridge and Washington have
traveled throughout the United States and met with numerous individuals
and companies in order to explore the feasibility of this platform. We
have spoken with, met with, and corresponded with experts in the
Regional Bell Operating Companies, Interexchange Carriers, Cable
Systems, information providers, and state public service commissions.
Based on these meetings and other research, the EFF has learned three
things:
1. ISDN CAN BE DEPLOYED IN THE NEAR FUTURE AT AFFORDABLE, MASS-MARKET PRICES
ISDN enables switched, digital, error-free information delivery over the
*existing copper wiring* that makes up the overwhelming bulk of the
nation's telecommunications network. No time or money is needed to
replace distribution lines. Digital central office switches are required
for ISDN, but with the Bell companies aggressive deployment of a full-
digital switching and signaling system (Signaling System Seven), the
bulk of the infrastructure necessary to support ISDN is already
installed or planned. Some Bell companies such as Bell Atlantic and
Ameritech plan to have over 75% of their subscriber lines ISDN-ready by
the end of 1994. Other companies, however, project deployment rates as
low as 17%. On a national level, 54% of all lines are expected to be
capable of carrying ISDN calls by 1994.
If ISDN is to be a platform that spurs growth and innovation in the
information services market, it must be priced affordably for the
average home and small business user. Therefore, the tariffs adopted by
state public utility commissions are critical to the success or failure
of ISDN. Some of the first residential ISDN tariffs filed by Bell
companies are discouragingly high.
To encourage widespread use of ISDN, it must be priced at or near the
price levels already in place for basic voice services. ISDN line
charges will be somewhat higher than analog voice services because there
are some additional one-time capital costs associated with offering ISDN
service, but basing prices on voice telephone rates is possible and
rational from a regulatory standpoint.
The digital switches which carry ISDN calls treat voice and data calls
in exactly the same manner. A five minute data call uses no more or less
switching resources than a five minute voice call, so their pricing
should be equivalent. Where flat rates are in place for voice services,
we believe that ISDN data service should also be priced at a flat rate.
Since the average length of a data call may be longer than the average
voice call, the flat rate for ISDN would have to be adjusted upward to
reflect added load on central office switching systems. However, the
mere fact that data lines may remain open longer does not preclude a
flat rate.
We are hopeful that Bell companies with more aggressive deployment plans
will file such residential tariffs and set a precedent for progressive,
mass-market pricing that will make ISDN affordable. Whether or not they
do, legislative or regulatory action may be necessary to establish such
a rate structure for ISDN nationally.
Current prices for ISDN telephones, data links, and in-home network
terminators are high. An ISDN telephone with voice and data interfaces
costs roughly $1000. If these price levels persist, many small scale
users will never enter the market. However, with increased demand, ISDN
terminal appliance prices can be expected to follow the steep downward
curve of VCRs and PCs prices. When first introduced, VCRs cost well over
$1000, but now sell below $200 for a basic unit.
2. ISDN DESERVES A *SECOND LOOK* BECAUSE IT CAN MEET MANY OF THE
INFORMATION NEEDS OF BOTH RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL USERS LONG
BEFORE A BROADBAND NETWORK COULD BE DEPLOYED
Some telecommunications cognoscenti view the promise of narrowband ISDN
as quite limited. They are aware that ISDN has languished unimplemented
for over ten years, and know that other copper-based transmission
technologies offering much higher bandwidth are available. However, ISDN
is the only *switched, digital* technology available *today* in the
public network that can be implemented nationally in the near term. EFF
believes that ISDN can meet many of the critical information needs of
both residential and commercial users even without broadband capacity.
EFF fully supports a broadband network in the future, when technology,
capital and user demand make it possible. For now, ISDN is the critical
technology that will jump-start an information revolution just like the
computer revolution of the 1980s.
For text-based data users and publishers, ISDN offers a dramatic
advantage over data transmission technology currently used by
individuals and small organizations. One of the two 64kbits/sec data
channels available in the ISDN Basic Rate Interface can fax 30
typewritten pages of text in one minute, and send a 1000-word newspaper
article in less than one second. Dramatic advances in video compression
make transmission of videoconference images possible today, and all
indications are that new compression algorithms will allow real-time
transmission of VCR-quality video images in the near future.
The personal computer industry shows that raw power is not all that
matters in a new technology. About 1980, corporations already had good
access to massive computational facilities at the institutional level
through their mainframes and minicomputers. But individual workers had
no effective direct access to those facilities. Personal computers made
a difference in the office and in the home, despite the fact that they
were anemically under-powered, because they were directly under the
control of the individual.
Similarly, there may be high data capacity at the institutional data
network level already, but if individuals and small organizations can't
connect with it, its value is limited. We must make tapping into the
digital, switched network as easy as ordering a phone line for a fax.
Just as PCs enhanced individual productivity, ISDN can enhance
individual connectivity.
EFF has found that many segments of the telecommunications industry are
engaged in a concerted effort to make nation-wide ISDN deployment a
reality. Problems that haunted ISDN in the past, such as lack of
standard hardware and software protocols and corresponding gaps in
interoperability, are being addressed by National ISDN-1, a joint effort
by Bell companies, interexchange carriers, and switch manufactures. By
the end of 1992, a single hardware standard will make ISDN central
office switches and customer premises equipment interoperable,
regardless of which vendor made the equipment. Following National ISDN-
1, National ISDN-2 will address standards problems associated with ISDN
Primary Rate Interface (PRI), a switched 1.5Mbit/sec service with 23
separate 64kbit/sec data channels and one 64kbit/sec signaling channel.
Additional interconnection problems remain to be solved before ISDN is
truly ubiquitous. Among other things, business arrangements between
local Bell companies and interexchange carriers must be finalized before
ISDN calls can be passed seamlessly from the local exchange to long
distance networks.
3. ISDN IS A CRITICAL TRANSITIONAL TECHNOLOGY ON THE ROAD TO A
NATIONWIDE PUBLIC SWITCHED BROADBAND NETWORK
ISDN is not a permanent substitute for a broadband network. It is a
necessary transitional technology on the way to public broadband
networking. Though some might like to leap directly to a broadband
network, the entire telecommunications and information industry still
has much to learn about designing a broadband digital network before it
can be implemented. Broadband switching technology is at the basic
research stage. Many questions still remain about the best network
architecture for the broadband network of the future. These questions
are impossible to answer without experience in the ways that people will
use a public, digital switched network.
Some are reluctant to make any investment in ISDN because it is
perceived as old technology. But this is not an either/or choice. If
implemented at prices that encourage diverse usage, ISDN will provide
important new services to all segments of society, and offer vital
perspectives on how to design the next generation of public, switched
broadband networks.
-==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-
EFF INTERNATIONAL:
A Report from John Perry Barlow In Japan
barlow@eff.org
[ Late last month, our co-founder, John Perry Barlow, traveled to Japan
on behalf of the EFF in order to extend our formal and informal
relationships to this country. What follows is a letter to all of us
shortly after his arrival.]
Folks,
Greetings from Mars.
Well, actually it may be a little south of Mars. They have palm trees on
the beach, but otherwise Beppu, Japan is about as foreign an environment
as one might easily e-mail from.
I feel like a huge and idiotic barbarian much of the time, but then that
can happen in Wyoming.
My trip so far has been very useful from the standpoint of EFF, I think.
I met all afternoon day before yesterday with the board and staff of
Glocom, which is, as I suspected, very much the Japanese EFF.
They differ largely in their willingness to discuss these issues at a
much higher level of abstraction.
For example, they don't quibble around the margins of intellectual
property, they ask if property is even applicable to the environment of
Cyberspace, where they are more inclined to think that prestige (which
is the other goal of economic activity besides survival) will probably
be conveyed better by attunement to the process of information passage
in time and density of interaction than by ownership.
In discussing the things we might undertake together, there was a lot of
talk about possibly setting up a project to see how the minds gathered
around GLOCOM and the minds gathered around EFF could be as directly
connected as possible. In other words, what are the barriers to directly
connected thought and how can they be overcome?
This would involve working through a lot of technical networking issues
(on the easy end) and get into some really juicy and interesting
challenges as we started working through the challenges making
"gateways" between Japanese and English, trying to find a jointly
congenial cultural environment, and really go about The Great Work.
I am very eager to go on working with these folks. They have a very
sophisticated grasp of the deep issues.
Also had a very fruitful meeting yesterday with Koichiro Hayashi, V-P
for Leased Circuits of NTT and soon to be president of NTT America (and
based in New York). A clear, direct, and smart man. He could be a great
asset in the future and I gave him a copy of the big book on the
Communications Policy Forum with the not so foolish hope of involving
NTT on several levels.
As regards ISDN in Japan, there are only 12,500 total connections at
this point and though the number of digitally switched phones is not
public, he will get it for me. He says that NTT does not regard ISDN as
being anything like a plain vanilla standard and that their first
efforts to connect their ISDN lines with AT&T's failed.
He also said that until someone could show NTT an online market they
could bank on, they would continue on their present course of replacing
analog switches with digital ones only when the former had depreciated
out on a non-accelerated basis. I tried some encouraging poetics about
the potential of unseen and unseeable markets on him. "I'm a
businessman," he shrugged, with an engaging smile.
Now I'm down at the Hypernetworking Conference in Beppu. The only other
Gaijins here so far are Howard Rheingold and Peter and Trudy Johnson-
Lenz from Awakening Technology.
The utterly opaque language barrier is difficult. Very few people at
this conference speak English. But the temperamental and even cultural
openness here makes up for the sense of linguistic isolation. They make
one feel very agreeably included.
I'll let you know more about what I'm learning as things progress.
-==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-
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