Testimony of William Schrader

The efficiencies of the Internet technology might put price and performance pressure on existing telephone company services which could produce a net decrease in revenue.

Greetings from the Twilight Zone

Despite the normative description of science as an arena of fully-open communication, the new communication technologies exacerbate the practical problem of some groups of people having more access to information than other people.

Testimony of William L. Schrader

The government’s most recent contributions to Internet technology have been severely outdated and behind the state-of-the-art. They have not had the desired effect. The Internet environment is characterized by rapid technology obsolescence and fast changing consumer demand. Government Industrial Policy in this arena will necessarily lag and, therefore, do an inefficient job of allocating tax dollars.

Privacy and Information

The law in general, and each of us in particular, will have to make some fundamental adjustments in the way we think of personal information and electronic communication. In doing so, we will ultimately have to change our idea of what we can reasonably expect to keep private.

Privacy and Information

E-mail is not the U.S. Mail; a cellular phone is not a traditional phone; and our financial, medical and other records are no longer stored in filing cabinets. If we want to secure our communications and personal profiles, we will have to become more vigilant. Even so, there will still be some intrusions beyond the control of contract, legislation or technology. Then we will have to alter our expectations. This connection of education and altered expectations may hold the key to privacy protection in the future.

Al Gore takes a Spin on the Info Highway; A Few Potholes Mar Electronic Town Meeting

Soon, the nature of the interaction here will be enriched with full-motion video and much faster links.

Privacy and Information

Even the scary-sounding “smart roads” and “smart cards” may become things we cannot do without … Having these services and conveniences means that there will, as always, be a tradeoff… We will have all of the conveniences offered by computers, but we can never again expect that our personal papers and communications can simply be locked away from prying eyes and ears.

Privacy and Information

Simply banning certain uses of personal information does not accommodate individual needs … Proponents of the market approach say that fear of regulation may do more than anything else to push corporations who traffic in our personal lives to come up with ways to maintain privacy. On the other hand, privacy advocates argue that trusting corporations to sit on mounds of valuable personal information is naive. Furthermore, even if leaving privacy protection to market forces makes sense in certain areas, it makes no sense where consumers have no choice, as in dealing with their state Motor Vehicle Bureau or the IRS. Then, privacy advocates say, we need tough new laws to secure personal information.

Senate Backs Nationwide Data Linkup

This will enable us to leapfrog the Japanese and make the best use of an area in which we hold a tenuous advantage.

28 Firms Join Work on Data Superhighway

[The highway] will provide the foundation for a national transformation to an information-based society, a key element for the U.S. to sustain leadership in the world economy.