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To: D.J.Smyth who wrote (22374)	6/15/1999 2:54:00 PM
From: David E. Taylor	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 41369

Darrell: I also found it inappropriate and even unethical for the FCC Chairman to take such a partisan position on this issue I carefully read through the legal filings from both sides in the Portland case as well as the judge's written opinion and order, and there are several points on which the FCC Chairman is simply wrong on the facts: (1) Both the Portland regulators and the judge's decision made it perfectly clear that they were not attempting to set national policy. (2) Neither were they trying to "regulate" the cable industry at the local level, in fact to the contrary, the issue of appropriate charges for ISP access to cable networks was one both the regulators and the judge expressly left to the normal business negotiation process. (3) Neither was there even a hint that the Portland regulators had any desire to get anywhere near the issue of developing the technical standards and equipment that will be needed for open access. The sole issue adjudicated was whether the Portland regulators, under the express terms of TCI's license, had the legal authority to require TCI/AT&T to allow open access. Clear answer: Yes. The fact that this has been spun into "federal judges setting national policy", and "local regulators developing technical standards" would seem to be an exercise in spreading mucho FUD around to conceal the real issue -- whether AT&T should be allowed to develop a monopoly over cable access to internet services. I'm surprised to see that the FCC Chairman has apparently been swayed by AT&T and the cable industry, he apparently didn't read the Portland case filings or the judge's opinion very carefully, if at all. Equal amounts of FUD seem to be emanating from ATHM and others in the cable industry. I listened to the ATHM analysts' conference call the day after the Portland decision, and they were full of the insurmountable technical difficulties involved in multiple ISP's using the same cable network. The recent GTE/AOL test would seem to indicate that this isn't exactly difficult, even with present equipment. IMO, once the FUD is blown away and the Portland decision is upheld, we'll see other regulators imposing similar open access requirements, some significant deals being cut, and the FCC will probably keep out of the way as it has so far. David T.