| Mr Geoff Luther, Manager - Secretariat, Broadband Services Expert Group, GPO BOX 2154, Canberra ACT 2601. Dear Mr Luther, I am pleased to forward this submission for the Broadband Services Expert Group on behalf of Electronic Frontiers Australia. Electronic Frontiers Australia are an association of people with a common interest in the "binary community", computer based communication systems, online information services, electronic mail networks, and similar media. "Born" on Fidonet and the Internet last year, EFA arose out of a growing awareness by its founding members of the need for a community based organisation to become involved in the establishment of the national agenda for the delivery of data communication and broadband services to and within the Australian community-at-large. It is loosely modelled on the American Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and has received a great deal of encouragement and support from that organisation in this crucial establishment phase. Electronic Frontiers Australia are a net-based organisation. We conduct the vast majority of our business via the electronic data communications medium, utilising both Internet and Fidonet systems. Our objectives, loosely stated, are; - To ensure that people have the same basic freedoms 'within' computer based communication systems as without, - To educate the public at large about computer based communication systems and their use, - To support, encourage and advise on the development and use of computer based communication systems (and related innovations), and - To research and advise on the law as applied to computer based communication systems and related technologies. To these ends, we are corresponding with the media, representatives of the government, including the Right Honourable Minister for Social Security, Peter Baldwin, the law community, and other interested groups. We have created mailing lists, USEnet newsgroups and Fidonet-based echomail conferences to foster discussion of these issues. Why are Electronic Frontiers Australia interested in making a submission to the Broadband Services Expert Group? Some of the major goals of EFA are to ensure that in the development of existing and any future networks: - Universal service rules are adopted, - Connections to networks allow two way communications, - Privacy of communications is ensured, - Content is regulated to no greater extent than in other media, and - Laws and regulations governing the digital equivalents of speech, written and visual materials are no more onerous than those for their physical counterparts. The time to get these issues resolved is now, whilst broadband services are being planned. The way in which they are implemented will have a major impact on the development of our society. It could lead to more diversity of opinion and information sources, and greater democracy or it could lead to reduced diversity of opinion and information sources, and increased bureaucratic control over the population. If we (as a nation) don't get it right now, it will be very difficult to fix later. The "cornerstones" of our submission are that: The broadband network must be fully bi-directional. Many of the proposed services to be offered over the broadband network will require two-way communication. A low-bandwidth "back channel" will, for most of these services, simply not suffice. Lack of broadband transmission abilities will, moreover, prevent network users from offering their own services. It must be easy for any person to provide services. We believe that any person or corporate entity connected to the network must be able to become an information provider with relatively little effort over that required to become an information consumer. Our commentary on items raised in the Discussion Paper on various Terms of Reference will reflect and expand upon these points. Firstly, though, we must draw your attention to the submissions made by the Australian Computer Society, Inc and Pegasus Networks Communications Pty Ltd. The ACS and Pegasus submissions jointly cover most of what Electronic Frontiers Australia would otherwise feel compelled to say. Electronic Frontiers Australia supports their contributions wholeheartedly. As such, we will not waste your time through repetition of material they have covered. This submission will instead focus on those areas about which we are especially concerned. Please do not hesitate to contact Garth Kidd for any further information or discussion. His personal phone number is (08) 234-0908 and his email addresses are: Fidonet: 3:800/828 Internet: garth@cleese.apana.org.au Garth Kidd, Michael Baker, Spokesman, Chairman, Electronic Frontiers Australia. Electronic Frontiers Australia. 1. Nature of, and Demand for, Broadband Services ================================================ Australians are avid information consumers. We read books, magazines, newspapers and newsletters; we watch television, hire movies and documentaries on video, go to the movies, and listen to the radio. An increasing trend is "niche information"; provision of information services intended for specific markets rather than general consumption. This trend has been characterised by the proliferation of fax newsletters, free "street mags" supported by advertising specific to their target culture, and the growing popularity of community radio and television. We believe that niche information services will constitute a significant part of the use of a public data network. The keys are diversity and low cost. The greater the diversity of services and the lower the cost of connecting to them, the more likely that any given person will find at least one service on the network which, alone, justifies their connection to it. In other words, we believe that demand for services on the public data network will be roughly proportional to the diversity of services available on that network. The only way to encourage this diversity and keep costs down will be to make provision of services as easy as possible. To use a specific example; an individual can set up a public access bulletin board system for little more than the cost of a computer, modem and phone line. Creating a similar service on the public data network should be similarly inexpensive. 6. Impacts on the Australian Community ====================================== Benefits to the community - The community at large can only benefit from the provision of accurate information on which to base their decisions. Education services and online reference materials (the "binary library") will be especially useful. Widespread availability of speedy and efficient transfer of business information over the public data network via mechanisms such as EDI will make Australian industry more efficient in general by eliminating many sources of error and delay. Associated with this will be "telecommuting", in which people will perform most of their work at home and communicate with their employers and clients via the public data network. There are many advantages to telecommuting, including increased flexibility for employees, reduced need for child-care, a decrease in physical commuting via private or public transport, and the ability of geographically disparate people to work productively together. Reducing the effects of the "tyranny of distance" is of special importance to Australians, especially those living in fringe suburban or rural areas. The public data network will allow these people to remotely access services hitherto available only to those living close to capital cities. Equity of Access and Universal Service We expect the public data network to become as ubiquitous as the public telephone network. Indeed, a well designed public data network would reflect the telephone network in many ways, providing low-cost transmission of information between any two sites. "Universal service" rules must be adopted, designed to provide a basic service to all Australians for low cost. Cross-subsidization may be necessary. Without universal service, we may well see the development of new social classes orientated on information boundaries, the "information rich" and "information poor", those who have access to lifestyle- and productivity-enhancing information services and those who do not. The basic service must be competitive with modem technology over the PSTN. Cost of connection to the public data network should be on par with that of connection to the PSTN, and the equipment cost should be comparable to that of a high- speed modem. The bandwidth of the basic service should, we believe, be at least 32 kilobaud. Privacy Issues The existing potential for connecting discrete databases of personal information together to assemble highly accurate and perhaps invasive details of a person's lifestyle and activities would scare many Australians. Witness the often angry reaction to the sale of customer information to direct advertisers. With the provision of a broadband public data network, the ability to perform this data-matching will only be enhanced. To prevent the development of a culture in which nothing is truly private, it may become necessary to enact legislation preventing the distribution or sale of personal information without the permission of the individual concerned. Legislation might also be provided requiring the maintainers of databases of private information to allow people to access their own records and ensure that they are correct. Incorrect information has the potential to wreak havoc upon those individuals to whom it refers. Cultural Policy Objectives We do not believe that governmental intervention, say to ensure adequate Australian content or access for community services, will be necessary. A well designed and ubiquitous public data network with minimal barriers for service provision will have all of the diversity of Australian culture itself. 12. Role of Government ====================== "Common Carrier" Status - The rights and responsibilities of a provider of a public access information service to which the public can contribute are, presently, legally ambiguous and confusing for these providers. For example, having no "Common Carrier" status, a bulletin board sysop may well be held responsible for the contents of his or her system even if the contents are provided from without by users of the service. A typical response to this is to regularly check the system, including the contents of personal mail between users, for illegal activities. This has two disadvantages. Firstly, the sysop is violating the privacy of users of the system. Secondly, by exercising what is essentially editorial control over the contents of the system, the sysop may well be held responsible for anything s/he misses. Respecting the privacy of users and attempting to avoid exercising editorial control over the contents of the system may, on the other hand, constitute neglect or lack of reasonable precautions against misuse. It may be appropriate for Government to provide an analogue of common carrier status to providers of online information services, both over the PSTN and the public data network. Government as an Information Supplier We believe that Government should publish as much information as possible over the public data network as a public service. This would include Hansard, discussion papers such as that published by the Broadband Services Expert Group, White and Green Papers, legislation text, court schedules and rulings, and other public information. | |
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