[daemon at ATHENA.MIT.EDU : On-Line Congressional Hearing]

[marc at Athena.MIT.EDU]

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[6484]  daemon at ATHENA.MIT.EDU (hearing-info at trystero.malamud.com) Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet 07/05/93 14:27 (70 lines)
Subject: On-Line Congressional Hearing
Date: Mon, 5 Jul 93 14:28:25 -0400
To: com-priv at psi.com
From: hearing-info at trystero.malamud.com
Reply-To: hearing-info at trystero.malamud.com

Station: Internet Multicasting Service
Channel: Internet Town Hall
Program: On-Line Congressional Hearing
Release: July 5, 1993 
Content: First Announcement/On-Line Congressional Hearing

     On July 26 at 9:30AM EDT, the Subcommittee on Telecommunications
and Finance of the U.S. House of Representatives will hold the first
Congressional Hearing ever held over a computer network.  The oversight
hearing on "The Role of Government in Cyberspace" will take place in 
the Grand Ballroom of the National Press Club at 14th and F Streets, 
N.W., Washington, D.C.  The hearing is open to the public. An open 
house will be held from 3-5PM on the same day in the same location and 
is also open to the public.

     Chairman Markey has asked that this historic occasion demonstrate
the potential and diversity of the global Internet.  Thirty Sparcstations 
will be in the hearing room, allowing members of Congress, staff, and 
their guests to read e-mail, use Gopher menus, read testimony in WAIS 
databases, browse the World Wide Web, and otherwise use the resources 
of the global Internet as part of the hearing.  

     Some witnesses for the hearing will testify remotely, sending audio 
and video over the Internet.  Audio and video of the hearing will also 
be multicast over the Multicast Backbone (MBONE).  We are hoping that 
C-SPAN and other traditional media will also carry the event.  *MORE 
DETAILS ON MBONE AND OTHER WAYS TO WATCH THE HEARINGS REMOTELY WILL BE 
FORTHCOMING SHORTLY.*

     One of the primary points that we are hoping to demonstrate is
the diversity and size of the Internet.  We have therefore established
an electronic mail address by which people on the Internet can communicate 
with the Subcommittee before and during the hearing:

          congress at town.hall.org

     We encourage you to send your comments on what the role of government
should be in the information age to this address.  Your comments to this
address will be made part of the public record of the hearing.  Feel free
to carry on a dialogue with others on a mailing list, cc'ing the e-mail
address.  

     Your cards and letters to congress at town.hall.org will help
demonstrate that there are people who use the Internet as part of their
personal and professional lives.  We encourage you to send comments on
the role of government in cyberspace, on what role cyberspace should play
in government (e.g., whether government data be made available on the
Internet), on how the Internet should be built and financed, on how you 
use the Internet, and on any other topic you feel is appropriate.  This 
is your chance to show the U.S. Congress that there is a constituency 
that cares about this global infrastructure.

     If you would like to communicate with a human being about the
hearing, you may send your comments and questions to:

          hearing-info at town.hall.org

     Support for the Internet Town Hall is provided by Sun Microsystems
and O'Reilly & Associates.  Additional support for the July 26 on-line 
congressional hearing is being provided by ARPA, BBN Communications, 
the National Press Club, Xerox PARC, and many other organizations.
 
     Network connectivity for the Internet Town Hall is provided by 
UUNET Technologies.

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