In keeping with his philosophy of the National Information Infrastructure as a constantly evolving mode of communication, Gore is not overly concerned with who provides content. Yet his initiatives, and others on the federal level, have made great contributions to what can be found on-line. Since the Administration is depending on model programs to lead the way by showcasing the possibilities of the NII, it may be instructive to look at a few varied examples.
One of the first shining examples of local initiative, supported in part by a small NTIA grant, is the Big Sky Telegraph in Montana, the first rural FreeNet started in 1988. Big Sky gained full Internet access in January 1993 and has been growing ever since.
Using BST, a high-school student in a one-room Montana schoolhouse can collaborate with a Swedish student on a World War II history lesson. Or a teacher in a New York City elementary school might share lesson plans with an elementary school teacher in Snowshoe, Idaho. Over twenty classes at Western Montana College use BST to supplement their classes with lessons, exercises, and research data. The information available on BST, such as K-12 lesson plans, is collected through resource-trading with users of the system. Teachers and other individuals seeking information are asked to trade information they possess for any information they gain while using the service. Through such bartering, over 600 lesson plans are now available.A favorite site of the Vice President is Library of Congress. Gore is fond of mentioning how school children around the country and the world will benefit from access to on-line access to the Library of Congress.
Part of the mission of the High Performance Computing and Communications program is to foster increased use of new computer and networking technologies to help support accelerated learning programs in education. The listings provided by NASA point to on-line resources for students and educators, as well as to projects that address these goals.
In addition to the creation of content, which Gore seems content to leave to educators and other interested parties, is the issue of control of content. Given his previous positions in favor of record labeling, it is reasonable to expect that he will want the government to be able to exert some control over the content of materials available on the NII; however, he is not calling for the undisciplined crackdown favored proposed by some members of Congress. The Administration is taking a hard-line stance against the Exon Amendment, a provision added to the Telecommunications bill that criminalizes "lewd, indecent and obscene" speech sent electronically. The Administration shares the Congressional Committee's goal of preventing obscenity from being widely transmitted over networks. However, "by criminalizing the transmission of material outside the scope of the legal definition of "obscenity," the Amendment will be subject to First Amendment challenge." according to a position paper being circulated by the White House. Instead, the White House favors a "comprehensive review" of various content control mechanisms.
Gore is certainly concerned about children gaining access to any obscene material; however, the Administration has a poor record in reviewing mechanisms to control computer transmissions - recall the debacles over the Clipper Chip and other encryption technologies - so it is possible that technical questions of accessibility will be initially left in the hands of those who know how to program the web. One can presume that the justice department will subsequently revisit this issue.
