----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Lives. XGW-Version: IMail SMTP Gateway v1.54 1/16/92 XGW-To: [log in to unmask] A symposium dealing with the National Information Infrastructure intending to gather information from Humanities folk who feel they may be left out of the decision making path. Debbie Lords Marriott Library University of Utah ****** START OF FORWARDED MESSAGE ****** Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 16:56:36 LCL From: Jay Jaroslav <[log in to unmask]> Subject: ARTISTS, WRITERS, AND OTHERS CONCERNED: HR 3636 Will Change Our Lives. It Is Being Debated RIGHT NOW! To: Multiple recipients of list ASIS-L <[log in to unmask]> Dear Colleagues: H.R. 3636 is the National Communications Competition and Information Infrastructure Act of 1993, and it is shaping our future to an extent that may be hard to grasp. In a just-over-the-horizon information landscape of almost unlimited potential, H.R. 3636 will determine just how much territory we can have access to, how easily, how often, and at what cost. We are at the threshold of a quantum leap in communications technology similar in scope to the advent of electricity and the introduction of the telephone. Although most of us can't see this change coming, and can't comprehend its language ("bandwidth", "interoperability", "open-platform", etc.), that failure of perception will not diminish its soon-to-be-felt and all-pervasive effects. The question is not how to deliver more and more pre-packaged programming on more and more channels to individuals in the home, classroom, or office. It is how, in each of those situations, individuals can have the opportunity to participate in a whole new model, actively seeking out the information they need and the audiences they want to reach. The potential of this new model may never be realized however. Decisions that will determine levels of access and interactivity on the emerging National Information Infrastructure are being made right now. Tremendous pressure is being applied by groups whose interests are primarily profit-related and do not coincide with the interests of the general public.* On October 14-16, the Center for Art Research and The New Art Center are sponsoring an important international symposium at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, Massachusetts that will lay the groundwork for a response to this crisis. The symposium will bring together representatives of the arts and humanities, government officials, network technologists and telecommunications visionaries who share the common goal of assuring maximum individual access to high-capacity interactivity on any proposed electronic infrastructure. The view of individuals and organizational representatives in the arts and humanities have special relevance to the issue of access and interactive potential. Museums and libraries are the major repositories of cultural information: collected history and heritage which can add significant value give meaning and context to our lives. Arts organizations produce cultural expressions through performances and exhibitions and, through their education and out-reach programs, encourage the spirit of creativity and innovation in our youth that interactivity demands. Individual artists, writers, film-makers and musicians are examples of persons who are already active communicators, forming unique information syntheses and seeking appropriate audiences for them. The next twelve months will see crucial telecommunications policy decisions being made. This symposium will be one of the key public opportunities for high-level interactions leading to the formation of partnerships, alliances and working-groups that could affect current policy and proposed legislation. We hope you will be able to attend. * Pat Aufderheide, in _In_These_Times_, quotes John Malone, CEO of TCI as saying to Jeff Greenberg on ABC's _American_Agenda_, "Nobody would invest hundreds of millions of dollars for the public interest. One would be fired if one took that stance." -------------------------------------------------------------- Jay Jaroslav, Director Internet: [log in to unmask] CENTER FOR ART RESEARCH 241 A Street Boston, MA voice: (617) 451-8030 02210-1302 USA fax: (617) 451-1196 -------------------------------------------------------------- ****** END OF FORWARDED MESSAGE ******