NII, Competing Visions

Viewpoint:

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Issue: Standards

Open vs. Closed Systems

The EFF regards the methods and procedures for the standardization of the system to be a central issue of the NII. The landscape is replete with examples of technologies being released too soon, as in the case of cellular cloning. Further issues, such as universal addressing and others, are crucial for education. A standard for the creation of addresses for individuals and institutions is essential for continued robust growth in the NII.

Potential for the telecommunications ghetto

The EFF believes that because technological innovation is primarily driven by economic considerations in this society, it is essential that discontinuous breakthroughs and new developments conform to some standard. Without such standards, there would be an inevitable drift from common technical languages to a situation much worse than we have now. It is ironic and somewhat counter intuitive to realize that the simplest language of all, which is digital mode simply zeros and ones has become one of the most difficult to standardize. This is true for the access of information because of software incompatibility, but is equally true in the areas of data switching and transmission modalities. ISDN or Integrated Switched Digital Network, which simultaneously carries voice and data over the same lines, and ATM or Asynchronous Transmission Mode are but two of the competing standards for the technical backbone of the NII. Because of the regulatory nature of the telecommunications industry based on the Communications Act of 1934, the FCC was able to act as referee for technical standards, in addition to mandating that all areas of the country would have comparable technology as well as access. In the past there was always the FCC or Federal Communications Commission. Absent this mechanism, the EFF believes that we must guard against schools and other educational institutions being shut out of the most powerful capabilities of the new electronic world simply because they do not have the capability to stay current on rapidly developing technological platforms. This is not only essential for schools and other educational institutions themselves, but also for applications such as distance learning.

Stagnation and technical suppression

On the other end of the spectrum, the EFF sees that the American automobile industry and the old American telephone industry virtually stifled competition by tabling innovative and highly desirable technologies. Absent some mechanism for standardization that is flexible enough to insure that innovation has a place there is a significant likelihood that a de facto standard setter with self interest motives will become the de facto standard setter, to the detriment of the NII.

Security

It is crucial to understand the importance of security as it relates to these other issues involving standards. Concerns such as appropriateness, confidence building and performance are under substantial debate in governmental as well as commercial circles.

Note: the views expressed in this document are an interpretation and unless explicitly noted do not represent the actual viewpoints of the named organizations.

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