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.