Re: Another Point Of View (Round 2)

[James Love <love@tap.org>]

     "I foresee" a long time before the LECs face any serious competition
  for telpehone service that doesn't run over thier copper wires. I can't
  wait for facilities based competition to come.  I have plenty to do, I
  have lots to do, and I hardly need any excuses to justify my salary.  (do
  you have a clue how much public interest work pays?  ) jamie
  
  I'm in Geneva today on the WIPO meetings on digital copyright, database 
  portection, and other bad ideas.  jamie
  
  On Sun, 1 Dec 1996, Bill Frezza wrote:
  > Hmm. Let me ask a question to determine the extent to which we are arguing
  > over means rather than ends. Your answer may also help other people on this
  > list get a true picture of what the CPT is up to.
  > 
  > I foresee a day when the entire telecommunications industry is completely
  > deregulated, much like the PC industry. When this happens, any company will
  > be able to sell (or not sell) any service it chooses to any customer it
  > chooses at any price the market will bear. The state PUCs will be out of
  > business, the FCC will be shrunk down to being a registrar of deeds to
  > spectrum and an enforcer of property rights, and lobbyists like yourself
  > will no doubt be off aggravating someone else. The justice department will
  > be solely concerned with chasing companies that engage in force or fraud
  > and congressmen will lose their ability to solicit millions in
  > contributions from the companies they are regulating. Any forms of
  > telecommunications welfare the voters are foolish enough to support will be
  > explicitly labeled as such and will be distributed to the so-called
  > "have-nots" directly on a means-tested basis, rather than cycled through
  > fat corporations sucking up to the public trough.
  > 
  > The sooner this happens, the sooner the bloated, protected, unionized
  > incumbent Local Exchange Carriers will have to fend for themselves rather
  > than run to the regulators to guarantee their profits, doing a little
  > "please don't throw me in the briar patch" dance with the retinue of
  > symbiotic lobbyists like yourself that are helping to perpetuate monopoly
  > in the name of ending it.
  > 
  > Any comments?
  > 
  > Bill Frezza
  > 
  > 
  > 
  
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  James Love / love@tap.org / P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
  Voice: 202/387-8030; Fax 202/234-5176
  Center for Study of Responsive Law
     Consumer Project on Technology; http://www.essential.org/cpt
     Taxpayer Assets Project; http://www.tap.org
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