Re: Bangemann Commission Document available from the Web

[Stephen Wolff <]

> A very obvious aspect of the Bangemann report is that it at several
> places and in emphasized typography claims that the development of the
> European Information Highway should be a fully market driven effort
> and that governmental subsidies should be avoided.  Rings some bells ?-!

I have not yet read the report, but if your assertion is true I should 
think it an unfortunate choice.

The recent report of the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board 
of the National Research Council - the operating arm of the US National 
Academy of Sciences - "Realizing the Information Future: The Internet and 
Beyond" proposes three continuing roles for government, at least in the 
US context:

  * providing leadership and guidance,
  * balancing interests and airing competing perspectives, and
  * influencing the shape of the information infrastructure.

Each role contains implicitly a commitment of government resources, and
among the financial instruments available are user subsidies and supplier
subsidies.  Their use has not been prohibited to us in the US who 
execute and administer policy, and I am surprised that policy-makers 
elsewhere would introduce such an a priori restriction.

-s

PS: The CSTB/NRC/NAS "NRENaissance report" is available from ftp.nas.edu. -s