1 Clark, Judi. The Future of the Bells. May 2002.

2 Broadband is a type of data transmission that uses a single medium (a wire) to carry multiple channels at once. DSL (which allows Internet access concurrently with regular telephone service) and cable (TV and modem) are two examples.

3 "Related to the public domain is the more general idea of "the commons" -- resources that are not divided into individual bits of property but rather are jointly held so that anyone may use them without special permission. Think of public streets, parks, waterways, outer space, and creative works in the public domain -- all of these things are, in a way, part of the commons." From the Concepts page, The Creative Commons. 20 July 2002.

4 The disconnection of broadband customers was, for a while, quite harsh. Northpoint (which had around 100,000 business and ISP customers, which in turn provide DSL connections to about 500,000 corporate and residential end-users) & Excite@Home (which had 3.7 million cable modem customers) disconnected their networks without notice, stranding their Internet customers. These were two of the higher profile exits whose actions represented a significant setback to the broadband market. According to the FCC, there were approximately 9.6 million high-speed subscribers as of June 30, 2001. Approximately 7.8 million of these subscribers are residential or small business customers.

• Bourne, Emily. NorthPoint shuts down network. Total Telecom, 30 March 2001. 7 June 2002.
• Wallack, Todd. Crucial time for ISP: Investor slams ExciteAtHome. San Francisco Chronicle/SF Gate, 28 August 2001. 7 June 2002.
• Wagner, Jim. Rumors Dog Rhythms Silence. InternetNews.com, June 21, 2001. 7 June 2002.
• FCC Releases Report On The Availability Of High-Speed And Advanced Telecommunications Capability. FCC News, 7 February, 2002. 7 June 2002.

5 Telecommunications Act of 1996. Pub. LA. No. 104-104, 110 Stat. 56. 1996. Codified at 47 U.S.C. óó 151 et seq., West Supp. 1997. 11 Mar 2002 .

6 It should be noted, however, that in the local phone service market cable companies have provided the only significant competitive choice for most consumers, and DSL service wasn't widely available until competition emerged from cable broadband service.

7 Expanding DSL access the focus in the United States. Broadband Communications. 14 June 2001.8 June 2002.

8 Mathewson, James. ReleVents: The Gloves are Off! ComputerUser.com, July 9, 2001. 11 June 2002.

9 "Action Alert: Oppose H.R. 1542." Online newsletter. NetAction Notes, No. 81. February 19, 2002. 19 February 2002.

10 Federal Communications Commission. FCC Launches Proceeding To Promote Widespread Deployment Of High-Speed Broadband Internet Access Services. Feb 14, 2002. 10 June 2002.

11 Greenberg, Brigitte. FCC Spawns Cable Industry Scramble. BroadbandWeek.com, February 19, 2002. 11 June 2002.

12 Benner, Jeffrey. Getting a Lock on Broadband. 7 June 2002. 8 June 2002.

13 Clark, Judi. The Future of the Bells. May 2002.

14 Davidson, Paul. FCC to review media ownership caps later. USA TODAY, page 3B. 18 June 2002.

15 Gold, Michael. Senior Research Engineer, Media Futures Program, SRI Consulting Business Intelligence. Personal phone call. 6 July 2002.

16 The term spectrum refers to the electromagnetic radiation spectrum. Long used for radio and television broadcast (and many other functions), spectrum uses vary from about 9 kilohertz (kHz) to thousands of gigahertz (GHz), called radio frequency (RF), and higher electromagnetic energy includes infrared (IR), visible light, ultraviolet (UV), X rays, and gamma rays. Most of the spectrum is licensed for specific uses by the FCC. A frequency allocation chart for the U.S. is found at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/allochrt.html (last checked 3 July 2002).

17 Peha, Jon M. The Path Towards Efficient Coexistence in Unlicensed Spectrum. 04-30-2000. 12 June 2002.

18 Gillmor, Dan. Imagine: world with unlimited airwaves. San Jose Mercury News. Reposted on David Farber's email list. May 20, 2002. 25 July 2002. Additional related thoughts by David P. Reed are at http://www.reed.com/dprframeweb/dprframe.asp?section=openspec (25 July 2002).

19 Many people feel that the idea of subsidizing pay TV as a taxpayer-supported "lifeline service" is ludicrous, hence the debate.

20 The relevant sections from the Telecommunications Act of 1996, include: SEC. 336. BROADCAST SPECTRUM FLEXIBILITY. '(5) prescribe such other regulations as may be necessary for the protection of the public interest, convenience, and necessity. '(c) Recovery of License: If the Commission grants a license for advanced television services to a person that, as of the date of such issuance, is licensed to operate a television broadcast station or holds a permit to construct such a station (or both), the Commission shall, as a condition of such license, require that either the additional license or the original license held by the licensee be surrendered to the Commission for reallocation or reassignment (or both) pursuant to Commission regulation. '(d) Public Interest Requirement: Nothing in this section shall be construed as relieving a television broadcasting station from its obligation to serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity. In the Commission's review of any application for renewal of a broadcast license for a television station that provides ancillary or supplementary services, the television licensee shall establish that all of its program services on the existing or advanced television spectrum are in the public interest. Any violation of the Commission rules applicable to ancillary or supplementary services shall reflect upon the licensee's qualifications for renewal of its license. '(f) Evaluation: Within 10 years after the date the Commission first issues additional licenses for advanced television services, the Commission shall conduct an evaluation of the advanced television services program. Such evaluation shall include-- '(1) an assessment of the willingness of consumers to purchase the television receivers necessary to receive broadcasts of advanced television services; '(2) an assessment of alternative uses, including public safety use, of the frequencies used for such broadcasts; and '(3) the extent to which the Commission has been or will be able to reduce the amount of spectrum assigned to licensees. '(g) Definitions: As used in this section: '(1) Advanced television services: The term 'advanced television services' means television services provided using digital or other advanced technology as further defined in the opinion, report, and order of the Commission entitled 'Advanced Television Systems and Their Impact Upon the Existing Television Broadcast Service', MM Docket 87-268, adopted September 17, 1992, and successor proceedings. '(2) Designated frequencies: The term 'designated frequency' means each of the frequencies designated by the Commission for licenses for advanced television services.

21 Promoting Innovation and Competitiveness: President Bush's Technology Agenda. 18 June 2002.

22 As models go, cars certainly had unintended consequences that were felt later. This is likely true of today's emerging technologies, though it is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss.

23 Streamliners Timeline: 1830 - 1919. American Experience, PBS.org. 12 June 2002.

24 "Short for Code-Division Multiple Access, a digital cellular technology that uses spread-spectrum techniques. " Definition from Internet.com's Webopedia. November 27, 2001. 3 June 2002.

25 "Bluetooth refers to a short-range radio technology aimed at simplifying communications among Net devices and between devices and the Internet. It also aims to simplify data synchronization between Net devices and other computers." Definition from Internet.com's Webopedia. August 2, 2001. 3 June 2002.

26 Gold. Michael. Senior Research Engineer, Media Futures Program. SRI Consulting Business Intelligence. Phone call, 28 June 2002.

27 Bernier, Paula. Passivee Optical Networkking Comes of Age. Xchange Magazine. 04/02/2001. 28 June 2002.

28 Covert, Charles. Investment Analyst, St. Paul Venture Capital. Personal email, 20 June 2002.

29 Weinschenk, Carl. PONs Hit the Big Time. Light Reading. Apr 24, 2002. 12 July 2002.

30 Taken from Mesh Networks' Interactive Demo. 25 July 2002.

31 In the US and Japan, for example, at least 4 different and incompatible cellular standards each serve millions of customers.

32 SDR Primer. SDR Forum. 1 July 2002.

33 The ad hoc social movement has many champions, including several prominent community groups and Internet Service Providers: (25 July 2002). Not surprisingly, the list doesn't include incumbent telephone or cable carriers who are threatening to cut off service to or sue customers to prevent them from sharing their own service with others. The questions are quite complicated. Should a customer be prevented from extending her own network to cover, say, the fire escape where she sits? Are her friends disallowed from using her network while visiting?

34 Larsen, Steve. Venture Partner, St. Paul Venture Capital. Personal email, 10 June 2002.

35 Gold, Michael. Personal phone call, 15 June 2002.

36 Neichin, Gregory, Alker, David, Christie, Ed, Gold, Michael, O'Halloran, Joe. Wireless Hot Spots. SRI Consulting Business Intelligence Report. May 2002. p 1.

37 Doonesbury comic, July 21, 2002. 21 July 2002

38 Churchill, Sam. Welcome to the Wireless LAN Revolution. Portland Community LAN Resource Guide. 5 July 2002.

39 The most common User Policies of the cable and telephone service providers disallow sharing with others. However, not all providers have such draconian policies, and not all users are connected to the net via those providers.

40 Montalbano, Elizabeth; Kenedy, Kristen; Redman, Russell; Kovar, Joseph F.; Hooper, Larry. 5 Technologies To Watch -- Some Emerging Technologies Should Make Big Strides Toward Maturity In The New Year. Computer Reseller News. Dec 24, 2001, p34.

41 Schwartz, Ephraim. It's a deafening sound: Bluetooth and wireless Ethernet rush into a noisy head-on collision. InfoWorld, 12 March 2001, p57.

42 Isenberg, David. SMART Letter. Online newsletter. No. 68. March 17, 2002. 17 March 2002.

43 Coffman, K. G.; Odlyzko, A.M. Growth of the Internet. AT&T Labs - Research. July 6, 2002. 27 Mar 2002.

About the Author

Judi Clark is currently a law student and President of ManyMedia, a Graphics Communication and Information Services Consultancy. She is also the force behind WomensWork.org, and a member of the NetAction Advisory Board. She has been an instructor in the University of California, Santa Cruz's corporate training department, past treasurer and member of the Board of Directors of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR), and served on the Steering Committee for several annual Computers, Freedom, and Privacy (CPF) conferences. She has been involved with many professional and businesswomen's conferences and web sites, and is creator of the Role Model Project for Girls.

August 2002

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