> Forwarded Text ----
>
> News Release -- March 27, 1997
>
> DIGITAL TORNADO:
> THE INTERNET AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY
>
> FCC Staff Working Paper on Internet Policy
>
>
> The FCC's Office of Plans and Policy (OPP) today released a staff
> working paper analyzing the implications of the Internet for the
> FCC and telecommunications policy. OPP Working Paper No. 29,
> "Digital Tornado: The Internet and Telecommunications Policy," was
> written by Kevin Werbach, Counsel for New Technology
> Policy. OPP periodically issues working papers on emerging areas in
> communications; these papers represent individual views and are not an
> official statement by the FCC or any FCC commissioner.
>
> "Digital Tornado" represents the first comprehensive assessment of
> the questions the Internet poses for traditional communications policy.
> A central theme running through the paper is that the FCC, and other
> government agencies, should seek to limit regulation of Internet
> services. In framing his approach, Werbach states: "Because it is not
> tied to traditional models or regulatory environments, the Internet
> holds the potential to dramatically change the communications
> landscape. The Internet creates new forms of competition, valuable
> services for end users, and benefits to the economy. Government policy
> approaches toward the Internet should therefore start from two premises:
> avoid unnecessary regulation, and question the applicability of
> traditional rules."
>
> After providing an analytical framework to understand the forces
> driving Internet growth, and describing the Internet's development and
> architecture, the paper addresses three primary areas:
>
> CATEGORY DIFFICULTIES
> Policy and legal questions arising from the fact that Internet-
> based services do not fit easily into the existing classifications
> for communications services under federal law or FCC
> regulations.
>
> PRICING AND USAGE
> Policy questions arising from the economics of Internet
> access, including assertions by local telephone companies that
> current Internet pricing structures result in network
> congestion, and arguments by Internet service providers that
> telephone companies have not upgraded their networks to
> facilitate efficient transport of data services.
>
> AVAILABILITY OF BANDWIDTH
> Regulatory and technical issues affecting the deployment of
> technologies promising to enable high-speed Internet access to
> the home and to businesses, including the implications for the
> Internet of the FCC's role in promoting universal service.
>
> The paper is available on the FCC World Wide Web site,
> <http://www.fcc.gov/>. The file is available for online viewing in
> PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format at
> <http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/OPP/working_papers/oppwp29.pdf>, or for
> downloading in WordPerfect format at
> <http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/OPP/working_papers/oppwp29.wp>.
> Copies may also be purchased from International Transcription
> Services, Inc., 1919 M Street, NW, Room 246, Washington, DC
> 20554, (202) 857-3800.
>
> -FCC-
>
>
> News media contact: Meribeth McCarrick or David Fiske at 202/418-0500.
>
> Office of Plans and Policy contact: Kevin Werbach at 202/418-1597.
>
>
> End Forwarded Text ----
(again, thanks to Joseph Reagle)