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To: polarisnh who wrote (2640)	7/15/1999 9:45:00 AM
From: Mark Palmberg	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4298

http://www.exchange2000.com/~wsapi/investor/reply-10516753

To: polarisnh who wrote (2640)	7/15/1999 6:03:00 PM
From: David C. Burns	Respond to of 4298

I saw some of the testimony and couldn't help noticing that Sen. Mike "little dweeb" DeWine (R., Ohio) was shilling for SBC/Ameritech.

To: polarisnh who wrote (2640)	7/19/1999 10:53:00 AM
From: polarisnh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4298

FCC should keep hands off the Internet, staff says CBS MarketWatch WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Internet has flourished in part because of the Federal Communications Commission's hands-off approach to regulating it, says a study released Monday by the commission staff. The working paper examines the commission's policies over 30 years and credits several of the commission's policies in helping foster the growth of the medium. It also recommends that the FCC follow a similar path in the future, considering only the minimum necessary regulatory action to address anti-competitive behavior. For example, the study cited the commission's role in developing a reliable and affordable telephone system over which data services could be offered as enabling the Internet to prosper. FCC policies also have helped to keep dial-up Internet access costs down by exempting enhanced service providers from the access charges paid by other types of carriers. Deregulation of the telecommunications equipment market has enabled users to connect their own equipment -- such as modems -- to access the network. The paper also recommends that the chartered course of action continue into the future and advises against the FCC simply imposing regulations developed for old technologies on new Internet-based technologies. Instead, the study suggests that the commission should review those old services with any eye toward deregulation. The commission still must be wary of anticompetitive behavior in the market, such as bottlenecks and tying up lines. But the paper urges that any responses should be at the bare minimum and should outweigh the costs of regulation. The biggest issue facing the FCC right now is the fight over open access to cable TV companies' broadband networks, which are just being rolled out into residences. America Online (AOL: news, msgs) argues that the cable networks should be treated just like phone company lines, which must be available to all.. But AT&T (T: news, msgs), which has purchased hundreds of local cable systems with an eye to rolling out high-speed Internet services, says it can't afford to build the new network if it can't make a profit on them. Local courts and elected bodies are fighting the battle out city by city. The FCC's chairman, William Kennard, has said the FCC may have to step in to establish a national policy, but he is reluctant to do so. The paper, from the FCC's Office of Plans and Policy, represents the views of individual staffers and are not officials statements by the commission or its commissioners.