The landmark report issued in late 1991 which examines the significance of telecommunications and evaluates how telecommunications services improve both the international competitiveness of U.S. businesses and the quality of life of U.S. citizens. Considers the technological and marketplace trends driving telecommunications development in this country and elsewhere. Assesses the role of regulatory and other government policies in promoting the development of a telecommunications infrastructure to support present and future national needs. 40 charts and tables.

An interconnection of computer networks, telecommunications services, and applications, the National Information Infrastructure (NII) can open up new vistas and profoundly change much of American life. This report explores some of the opportunities and obstacles to the use of the NII by people and organizations. The goal is to express how improvements in the technical foundation upon which all modern communications rests can benefit all Americans by focusing on the uses of the NII and the benefits to be derived by applications of advanced computing and communications technologies. This document describes how the evolving NII can: enhance the competitiveness of our manufacturing base; increase speed and efficiency of electronic commerce; improve health care delivery and control costs; promote development and accessibility of quality education and lifelong learning; improve effectiveness of environmental monitoring and assessing human impacts upon the earth; sustain the role of libraries as agents of democratic and equal access to information; and provide government services to the public faster, more responsively, and more efficiently. In addition to articulating a national vision that can serve as a framework for discussion and dialogue, a second goal is to improve public policy-making, to identify critical barriers, enablers, and the tools of government action most effective in each of these areas. In this way, the benefits of government activities in support of the NII can be maximized, while minimizing unintended or undesirable consequences. Several themes emerge: equity of access; pursuit of demonstrations and pilot projects; standards setting process; privacy and communications security; training and support; identification of long-term research and development priorities; and performance measurements to assess both public and private investments and experiments. It is hoped that careful consideration of the policy questions raised here will both facilitate the development of the NII and guide its evolution so that it best meets public purposes. (MAS)

This now famous White Paper provides rules for our digital highway.Ó Examines each of the major areas of intellectual property law, focusing primarily on copyright law & its application & effectiveness, especially subject matter & scope of protection, copyright ownership, term of protection, exclusive rights, limitations on exclusive rights, copyright infringement. Holds Internet service providers legally accountable for copyright & other infringements by their users. Judges are beginning to use this document to form case law.

Advancement of telecommunications and information infrastructure occurs largely through private investment. The government affects the rate and direction of this progress through regulation and public investment. This book presents a range of positions and perspectives on those two classes of policy mechanism, providing a succinct analysis followed by papers prepared by experts in telecommunications policy and applications.