I'm not sure how much our emphasis on individuals will go along with Phil Agre's (and CPSR's, of which he's a prominent member) emphasis on communities. -Allen From: IN%"rre@weber.ucsd.edu" 30-APR-1996 01:47:55.85 From: Phil Agre <pagre@weber.ucsd.edu> [The Apple proposal to the FCC is an important initiative for community networking, and may set a precedent for much more dramatic restructuring of telecommunications infrastructure in the future.] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This message was forwarded through the Red Rock Eater News Service (RRE). Send any replies to the original author, listed in the From: field below. You are welcome to send the message along to others but please do not use the "redirect" command. For information on RRE, including instructions for (un)subscribing, send an empty message to rre-help@weber.ucsd.edu =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Date: Fri, 26 Apr 1996 16:24:44 -0400 From: Heather Boyles <heather@farnet.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <cni-announce@cni.org> Subject: FARNET's Washington Update FARNET's Washington Update --- April 26, 1996 IN THIS ISSUE: o 1996 Appropriations stalemate finally ends while FY97 appropriations round heats up o FCC proposes free spectrum for community networking ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1996 APPROPRIATIONS STALEMATE FINALLY ENDS WHILE FY97 APPROPRIATIONS ROUND HEATS UP After months of negotiations and two partial government shutdowns, the President and the Republican Congress finally came to agreement this week on an omnibus spending bill for the remaining five months of FY96. The bill includes appropriations for the NSF and Commerce among several other agencies. At the same time, authorization and appropriations bills are being worked through committees in the House for FY97 which begins on Oct. 1. The final FY96 budget for NSF came to $3.22B --- $40M above what the House and Senate had previously agreed upon this year. However, this week also saw the House Science Committee authorize NSF spending for FY97 at only $3.25B, a $75M cut from NSF's $3.325 request, which would give NSF less than a 1% raise over FY96. NSF has generally faired well amidst Republican (specifically House Science Committee Chair Robert Walker (PA)) efforts to cut science spending for all but what they define as "basic science." Democrats protested that the omnibus science authorization bill passed out of the committee this week was done too hastily, bypassing subcommittees for a one-day full committee session. Ranking Science Committee member George Brown (D-CA) complained that, among other things, "The Republican bill would eliminate the Social Science directorate....[and make] arbitrary personnel cuts at the National Science Foundation." The Commerce Department's TIIAP (Information Infrastructure Grants) program scraped by with an (anticipated) $21.5M for FY96. FCC PROPOSES FREE SPECTRUM FOR COMMUNITY NETWORKING Apple's NII Band petition which was filed almost a year ago at the FCC will finally see some action there. The FCC today released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes to make 350 megahertz of spectrum available for use by unlicensed equipment termed "NII/SUPERNet" devices. The Commission voted 4-0 to release the proposal. The proposal comes after Apple Computer petitioned the FCC last year to create a "NII Band" that would permit high-speed data communications available to anyone without licensing or air-time charges. The FCC's NPRM would make spectrum from 5.25-5.35 GHz and 5.725-5.875 GHz available to devices that would fall under Part 15 of FCC rules, mandating only minimum technical standards and a basic "listen-before-talk" protocol standard. The FCC would also place power and out-of-band emissions limits on the devices, thus allowing only short-range (probably indoor or within campus) networking. The Apple petition last year advocated allowing users to use the devices for long-range (community-based with particularly emphasis on rural areas) communications. A rival group called the WINForum (made up of a number of telecommunications companies) balked at the idea of long-range use of the spectrum (which might cut into their businesses). Apple's long-range proposal may not be dead yet though. Commissioner Ness, in a separate statement on the NPRM, said she was "intrigued by the Apple long-haul proposal, which contemplates low-cost broadband links from homes to schools and libraries," but pointed to a number of questions that would need to be resolved before the Commission could proceed with such a proposal. The FCC clearly sees this proposal as an effort to help fulfill the President's promise to connect every school in the country to the "information superhighway." The NII/SUPERNet proposal is aimed at helping schools and other institutions do that without having to go to the expense of wiring entire buildings. Furthermore, the proposal may help take the wind out of the sails of those who have recently been pressuring the FCC to include inside wiring of schools in the universal service mechanism for schools and libraries - the Snowe-Rockefeller-Kerry provisions from the new telecom law. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Written from FARNET's Washington office, "FARNET's Washington Update" is a service to FARNET members and other interested subscribers. We gratefully acknowledge EDUCOM's NTTF and the Coalition for Networked Information for additional support. If you would like more information about the Update or would like to offer comments or suggestions, please contact Heather Boyles at heather@farnet.org.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Heather Boyles Director, Policy and Special Projects phone: (202) 331-5342 FARNET, Inc. fax: (202) 872-4318 1112 16th Street, NW Suite 600 email: heather@farnet.org Washington, DC 20036 web: http://www.farnet.org
-- <HTML><A HREF="http://www.eff.org/~mech/"> Stanton McCandlish </A><HR><A HREF="mailto:mech@eff.org"> mech@eff.org </A><P><A HREF="http://www.eff.org/"> Electronic Frontier Foundation </A><P> Online Activist </HTML>