Ralph Nader on HR 1555 - asks Clinton to stand firm on veto

[James Love <love@tap.org>]

-----------------------------------------------------------------
TAP-INFO - An Internet newsletter available from listproc@tap.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------
TAXPAYER ASSETS PROJECT - INFORMATION POLICY NOTE

   the following letter was sent by Ralph Nader to President Clinton, 
asking the President to stand firm on his promise of a veto on HR 1555.
for more information, James Love, work 202/387-8030; or 703/522-4380; 
love@tap.org


August 4, 1995

President Bill Clinton
president@whitehouse.gov

Dear Mr. President:

Today's passage of HR 1555, the telecommunications measure, is a
major blow to consumers.  In passing HR 1555, the House of
Representatives has:

1.   stripped state governments of many of their traditional
     powers to regulate telephone rates, even when consumers are
     served by monopolies;

2.   deregulated cable television rates, even when consumers are
     served by monopolies;

3.   provided for much greater concentration in the ownership of
     telecommunications and media outlets, by 

     -    raising or eliminating many existing national and local
          ownership limits for broadcast radio and television,

     -    eliminating many existing limits on cross-ownership of
          broadcast licensees and non-broadcast
          telecommunications or media businesses,

     -    allowing telephone companies to acquire a huge chunk of
          the cable systems in their own service areas, and

     -    allowing incumbent broadcast television license owners
          to control up to 6 new digital broadcast television
          channels in the same market;

4.   turned its back on more open access to telecommunications
     networks by:

     -    limiting the FCC's ability to require interoperability
          or open architecture for the new broadband networks,

     -    failing to include last year's "open platform," which
          would have required telephone companies to provide a
          low cost switched digital service over the existing
          telephone infrastructure, and

     -    allowing telephone companies to offer video services as
          a closed "cable system" rather than under the common
          carrier video dialtone concept.

I urge you to hold fast to your commitment to veto this anti-
consumer legislation.


Sincerely,


Ralph Nader    

---------------------------------------------------------------------
TAP-INFO is an Internet Distribution List provided by the Taxpayer
Assets Project (TAP).  TAP was founded by Ralph Nader to monitor the
management of government property, including information systems and
data, government funded R&D, spectrum allocation and other government
assets.  TAP-INFO reports on TAP activities relating to federal
information policy.

TAP-INFO is archived at gopher.essential.org in the Taxpayer Assets 
Project directory, and at http://www.essential.org/tap/tap.html

Subscription requests to tap-info to listproc@tap.org with
the message:  subscribe tap-info your name
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Taxpayer Assets Project; P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC  20036
v. 202/387-8030; f. 202/234-5176; internet:  tap@tap.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------