TELECOMMUNICATION POLICY Telecom 810 Department of Telecommunication Michigan State University, May-June 1996 Instructor: Stephen D. McDowell COURSE DESCRIPTION: This policy seminar will examine issues, actors, policy porcesses, institutions, and the social and economic context of telecommunication policy in the United States. The focus will be on the federal government during the period from the 1930s through to the 1990s, with consideration of the historical development of federal institutions and policies. The readings provide an overview of the issues, policy processes and policy outcomes, and will acquaint the student with descriptive and historical material regarding telecommunications policy and regulation. As well, we will compare competing explanations and interpretations of regulation and of various attempts to formulate and implement U.S. federal telecommunications policies and legislation. REQUIREMENTS: Course requirements are participation in class discussions, presentations on readings, two "issues and concepts" papers, a research proposal for the telecommunications policy paper, and the policy research paper. Students are expected to attend and participate in seminar discussions in an active and informed fashion. Readings should be completed before each class session for which they are assigned. Participants will each be assigned readings as the basis for class presentations. These oral class presentations should be 10-12 minutes in length, and should take the form of an analytic introduction of the reading. Presentations should provide your own assessment of the reading and raise questions for discussion, rather than a descriptive summary. The presentation should lead into questions for discussion, and provide your own perspective and analysis on those questions. The "issues and concepts" or discussion papers deal with the literature from one week of the schedule of topics. As well as defining clearly the question that you will discuss, the papers should compare and contrast perspectives from that week's assigned readings, and provide your own argument and analysis. Papers should use a consistent citation format, and should not exceed 7-8 pages in length (double-spaced). They will be marked based on writing style and clarity, organization, command and application of course material, and analysis and insight of the argument. The first discussion paper (dealing with readings from May 13) is due by May 23. The second discussion paper should address a question or issue from one week's readings from Part III, and is due by June 7. The policy research paper should undertake descriptive, historical or empirical research in the analysis of a particular policy process or issue. In combining your own research with the use of course materials, the policy paper should address practical and theoretical issues of policy analysis and policy formulation. It may either analyze policy processes or issues, evaluate particular policies, or make recommendations regarding a telecommunications policy. An important part of the policy research project is the construction of a research proposal. The proposal should briefly cover the scope and nature of the research question and topic with which you plan to deal, the policy issues at stake, the theoretical framework to be used, the resources that you will draw upon, the research methods which you will use, and a preliminary statement of the paper's argument, proposition or claims. The proposal should not exceed 4-5 pages in length, and must include a preliminary bibliography. It is due on June 13. In addition to the criteria of evaluation outlined above for the discussion papers, the policy research paper will also be evaluated based on research and creativity. This paper should not exceed 15 pages in length, and is due on June 27, 1996. Please keep your own paper copies or electronic copies of any work submitted. Be careful to cite fully any ideas or direct quotations drawn from others' work in your assignments. Plagiarism is an academic offense which may result in a failing grade being assigned for the course. EVALUATION: Requirement Weighting Class participation/presentations 20% Discussion Paper One (due May 23) 20 Discussion Paper Two (due June 7) 20 Research Proposal (due June 13) 10 Policy Research Paper (due June 28, 2:00 pm) 30 TEXTS AND READINGS: We will be using portions of a number of texts. Several books have been ordered and are available at the MSU and other area bookstores: Brock, Gerald, Telecommunication Policy for the Information Age: From Monopoly to Competition (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994). Horwitz, Robert Britt, The Irony of Regulatory Reform: The Deregulation of American Telecommunications (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989). Drake, William J. (ed.), The New Information Infrastructure: Strategies for U.S. Policy (New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1995). Mansell, Robin, The New Telecommunications: A Political Economy of Network Evolution (Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1993). Baldwin, Thomas, D. Stevens McVoy, and Charles Steinfeld, Convergence: Integrating Media, Information, and Communication (Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1996). A package of the supplementary readings for individual student's use is also available at Budget Printing Center (Trowbridge Plaza, Trowbridge and Harrison, ph: 351-5060 ). ELECTRONIC RESEARCH RESOURCES: Below is a list of servers and mail addresses which will be useful for your policy research papers. It was posted to the telecomreg listserver by Mick Souder, Page Keeper, http://www.mtn.org/mco, masouder@mtn.org. ****Information Services and their Uniform Resource Locators (URL's)**** ACTV21 Columbus, Ohio http://www.thesphere.com/ACTV/ Alliance for Competitive Communications http://bell.com American Communication Association WWW http://www.uark.edu/depts/comminfo/www/telecomm.html Cable Labs http://www.cablelabs.com/NR/telco_page.html Center For Democracy and Technology (World Wide Web Site) http://www.cdt.org/ Center For Democracy and Technology (File Transfer Site) ftp://ftp.cdt.org/pub/cdt/ The Communications Policy Project http://www.cdinet.com/Benton/ Computer Professionals for Social Respondsibility (CPSR) http://www.cpsr.org/home CPSR's Detailed Analysis of Telecommunication Regulations' Proposed Impact on the Internet http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/nii/cyber-rights/telecom.html The Digital Information Infrastructure Guide http://farnsworth.mit.edu/diig/index.html The Electronic Activist http://www.berkshire.net/~ifas/activist Electronic Frontier Foundation http://www.eff.org Electronic Privacy Information Center http://www.epic.org The Insight Research Corpoartion http://www.wiltel.com/Insight/insight.html Minnesota Government Information Access Council (GIAC) http://www.state.mn.us/ebranch/admin/ipo/giac/index.html Morino Institute http://www.morino.org National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Administrators http://www.natoa.org/ Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS) Links from the World Wide Web Consortium http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/PICS/ Progress and Freedom Foundation: "Cyberspace and the American Dream" http://www.pff.org/pff/i-cad.html TIES Acceptable Use Policy Links http://www.ties.k12.mn.us/accept Voter Telecomm Watch gopher://gopher.panix.com:70/11/vtw/ **U.S Government** Federal Communications Commission http://www.fcc.gov/ National Telecommunication and Information Administration http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ The Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996 http://rs9.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/5?c104:./temp/~c104s5pz:: Final version. Electronic Privacy Information Center text of the Communication Decency Act http://www.epic.org/free_speech/censorship/cda.txt ****Electronic Mail Lists**** CABLEREG-L@NETCOM.COM CPSR@CPSR.ORG Electronic Froniter Foundation Mailing Lists (listserv@eff.org) GOVACCESS@well.com IIAIPO@HIS.COM MCOWORK@MTN.ORG MN-III@VM1.SPCS.UMN.EDU MN-POLITICS@MR.NET NII_AGENDA@WORLD.STD.COM NIIREGIONAL-L@COYOTE.RAIN.ORG PUB-INFRA@EFF.ORG ROUNDTABLE@CNI.ORG TELECOM@EECS.NWU.EDU TELECOM-POST@CPSR.ORG TELECOMREG@RELAY.DOIT.WISC.EDU TPR-NE@MITVMA.MIT.EDU JOURNALS AND PERIODICALS: There are also a number of journals and periodicals that are especially useful for research in telecommunications: Telecommunications Policy Telematics and Informatics Media, Culture and Society Telephony Cable and Broadcasting Intermedia Journal of Communication European Journal of Communication Canadian Journal of Communication Journal of International Communication Broadcasting and Electronic Media (Ohio State) Journal of Media Economics SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND READINGS: PART ONE: INTRODUCTION Tuesday, May 14: Challenges Facing Telecommunications Policy: Selected Perspectives Gilder, George, "Into the Telecosm," Harvard Business Review Vol. 69 (March-April 1991), pp. 150-161. Kline, David, and Daniel Burstein, "Is Government Obsolete?" Wired (January 1996), pp. 86-105. Mansell, Robin, The New Telecommunications: A Political Economy of Network Evolution (Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1993), Introduction, pp. ix-xii; Chapter 1, pp. 1-14. Drake, William J, "Introduction: The Turning Point," in William J. Drake (ed.), The New Information Infrastructure: Strategies for U.S. Policy (New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1995), pp 1-27. Hills, Jill, Deregulating Telecoms: Competition and Control in the United States, Japan and Britain (Westport, Conn.: Quorom Books, 1986), Introduction, pp. 1-23. Questions: (you may use one of these as the basis for the first discussion paper) 1/ The state: What have been and what are the role of public policy and public regulation in guiding the production of telecommunications services? What should be the role of the state in the future? 2/ Technological change: How should we understand the processes of technological development and change in the telecommunications industry? What is the role of changes in technology in affecting market structure and telecommunications policy? 3/ Economic structure/globalization: How important are changes in the way economic production and exchange are organized for telecommunications policy? In what ways have new uses of telecommunications contributed to the re- organization of economic production and exchange on a national and global scale? 4/ Role of industry structure/providers: What is the importance of the ownership structure of the industry -- such as concentration, cross-ownership, competition among multiple providers -- for the introduction of new services, responsiveness to consumer demand, and serving broader communications needs of society? 5/ Role of users/consumers: How important are the large and small users of telecommunications services in shaping the types of services which are made available? Thursday, May 16: Introduction to U.S. Telecommunications Act of 1996 Video presentation from Dept. of Telecommunication seminar on March 12, 1996 United States, Telecommunications Act of 1996 Notes from presentation by Professor Thomas Baldwin (to be distributed) Baldwin, Thomas, D. Stevens McVoy, and Charles Steinfeld, Convergence: Integrating Media, Information, and Communication (Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1996), Chapter 11. Tuesday, May 21: State and Local Issues in the New Telecommunications Environment Video Presentation of Seminar from April 23, 1996 Michigan Telecommunications Act, November 1995 Handbook of the Michigan Telephone Association PART TWO: POLICY PERSPECTIVES AND FRAMEWORKS Thursday, May 23: The Purposes and Methods of Public Policy Analysis (Discussion Paper One is due) Part One: Pal, Leslie, Public Policy Analysis (Second Edition) (Toronto: Nelson, 1992), Chapter 2, pp. 16-37. Heineman, Robert A., William T. Bluhm, Steven A. Peterson, and Edward N. Kearny, The World of the Policy Analyst: Rationality, Values, and Politics (Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, 1990), Chapter 2, pp. 35-67. Part Two: Stone, Deborah A., Policy Paradox and Political Reason (Harper Collins, 1988), Preface, Introduction and Chapter 1, pp. 1-26. Eisner, Marc Allen, Regulatory Politics in Transition (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1993), Chapter 1, pp. 1-26. Questions for Consideration: 1/ How should we define public policy? Are policies only intended and conscious actions and choices? Should the term public policy also refer to outcomes and consequences of public decisions or actions? 2/ Should policy formation and decisions be seen as distinct from implementation? 3/ What is the proper relationship between politics and public policy? 4/ How should knowledge claims be judged and compared in public policy analysis? Should professional or expert knowledge supersede the claims of other groups? Should "facts" and "values" be separated? Is there a standard of knowledge which is consensual in telecommunications policy? 5/ What are the main elements of a rational policy analysis model? Is a rational practice of public policy possible or desirable in a period of rapid technical, economic and social change? Is rational public policy possible or desirable in a democratic polity? 6/ How applicable are Deborah Stone's concepts of political reasoning and strategically crafted argument to understanding the issues and process of contemporary telecommunications policy? What metaphors and analogies presently are used to define telecommunications policy problems and paradoxes? 7/ What are the differences in the notion of public interest in telecommunications in the market image and the political community image which Deborah Stone puts forward? Can the development of a public telecommunications network be seen as a "commons" problem? Tuesday, May 28: Perspectives on Telecommunications and Public Policy Part One: Brock, Gerald, Telecommunication Policy for the Information Age: From Monopoly to Competition (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994), Chapters 1-3, pp. 1-48. Horwitz, Robert Britt, The Irony of Regulatory Reform: The Deregulation of American Telecommunications (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), Chapters 1 and 2, pp. 1-44. Part Two: Mosco, Vincent, "Toward a Theory of the State and Telecommunications Policy," Journal of Communication Vol. 38, No. 1 (Winter 1988), pp. 107-124. Bar, Francois, "Information Infrastructure and the Transformation of Manufacturing," in William J. Drake (ed.), The New Information Infrastructure: Strategies for U.S. Policy (New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1995), pp. 55-74. Questions for Consideration: 1/ In Brock's view, what are the strengths of the decentralized telecommunications policy process in the United States? Do you find his arguments to be persuasive? 2/ What are the roles of information and the ability of actors to deal with information in Brock's analysis? What is the role of time? 3/ Which of Horwitz's models of regulation do you find to be the most useful? 4/ In what ways do the elements and construction of Horwitz's theory of communications regulations differ from Brock's models of communications policy? What implications do these differences have for the type of research each author undertakes? 5/ How Horwitz's theories fit into the types of policy frameworks proposed by Leslie Pal (structural determinacy, rational actor, and meaning systems)? 6/ What are the elements of the four general forms of governance in Mosco's argument? What countries might provide examples of each? What is the role of power in each of the three frameworks of telecommunications policy that Mosco presents? Which of these frameworks do you find to be the most useful, either for examining telecommunications policy in the united States or elsewhere? PART THREE: HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY Thursday, May 30: Business and Economic Developments in the Late 19th Century Part One: Horwitz, Robert Britt, The Irony of Regulatory Reform: The Deregulation of American Telecommunications (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), Chapters 3 and 4, pp. 46- 125. Part Two: Carey, James W., "Technology and Ideology: The Case of the Telegraph," in Communications as Culture: Essays on Media and Society (Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1988), Chapter 5, pp. 201- 230. Beniger, James R., The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of the Information Society (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1986), Introduction, pp. 1-27; Chapter 6, pp. 219-287. Marvin, Carolyn, "Annihilating Space, Time and Difference: Experiments in Cultural Homogenization," in When Old Technologies Were New: Thinking About Electric Communication in the Late Nineteenth Century (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), Chapter 5, pp. 191-230. Questions for Consideration: 1/ How are common law, administrative law, and regulation distinct? What were the key dynamics in the development of "regulation" as a form of governance in the United States? What distinguishes the problems, purposes, and mechanisms of regulation in different periods? 2/ What were the implications of the use of the telegraph, according to Carey? How do the arguments of Carey and Horwitz fit together? 3/ What is technology, according to James Beniger? What were the origins of the successive crises of control Beniger describes? How can you relate the arguments of Beniger and Horwitz? 4/ What cultural images and depictions were tied up with the introduction of electrical communications in the late 19th century? Have these ideas influenced the ways in which we understand communications today? Wednesday, June 5: The 1934 Communications Act, the FCC and Public Interest Regulation Part One: Brock, Gerald, Telecommunication Policy for the Information Age: From Monopoly to Competition (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994), Chapter 4, pp. 49-76. Horwitz, Robert Britt, The Irony of Regulatory Reform: The Deregulation of American Telecommunications (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), Chapter 5, pp. 126-153. Part Two: Horwitz, Robert Britt, The Irony of Regulatory Reform: The Deregulation of American Telecommunications (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), Chapter 6, pp. 154-195. McChesney, Robert W., Telecommunications, Mass Media, and Democracy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), Chapter 8, pp. 185-225. Questions for consideration: 1/ What were the key dynamics in the formation of price and entry regulation? 2/ How important were particular steps and missteps of the National Committee on Education by Radio and other broadcast reformers in the success of efforts to reserve spectrum for educational and non-profit uses? 3/ Why were these groups as effective as they were? Would the outcome (in terms of spectrum allocation, the role of the FCC, and the shape of the Communications Act) have differed if these groups had been better organized or if specific persons had acted differently? 4/ What challenges faced, and now face, groups making public interest claims in the broadcasting field? How sustainable is the notion of public interest broadcasting in a commercial broadcasting system? PART FOUR: RESTRUCTURING POLICY AND REGULATION Thursday, June 6: Divestiture, Deregulation and the Movement to Competition? (Discussion Paper Two is due on June 7) Part One: Brock, Gerald, Telecommunication Policy for the Information Age: From Monopoly to Competition (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994), Chapters 6-8, pp. 79-146; Chapters 9-11, pp. 149-214. Horwitz, Robert Britt, The Irony of Regulatory Reform: The Deregulation of American Telecommunications (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989), Chapters 7-9, pp. 196-284. Part Two: Wilson, Kevin G., "Deregulating telecommunications and the problem of natural monopoly: a critique of economics in telecommunications policy," Media, Culture and Society Vol. 14 (1992), pp. 343-368. Mosco, Vincent, "The Mythology of Telecommunications Deregulation," Journal of Communication Vol. 40, No. 1 (Winter 1990), pp. 36-49. Noam, Eli M., "Beyond Telecommunications Liberalization: Past Performance, Present Hype, and Future Direction," in William J. Drake (ed.), The New Information Infrastructure: Strategies for U.S. Policy (New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1995), pp. 31-54. Questions: Tuesday, June 11: Technology Policy Part One: Solomon, Richard Jay, "Telecommunications Technology for the Twenty-first Century," in William J. Drake (ed.), The New Information Infrastructure: Strategies for U.S. Policy (New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1995), pp. 93-111. McKnight, Lee, and W. Russell Neuman, "Technology Policy and the National Information Infrastructure," in William J. Drake (ed.), The New Information Infrastructure: Strategies for U.S. Policy (New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1995), pp. 137-155. Part Two: Mansell, Robin, The New Telecommunications: A Political Economy of Network Evolution (Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1993), Chapters 2 and 3, pp. 14-68. Questions: 1/ What models or images are most useful to understand the development and uses of intelligent network technologies? 2/ Do technical standards constrain or support creativity and innovation? 3/ Are processes of technical design and standardization neutral processes, or are certain organizations and groups more likely to guide and benefit from these developments? 4/ What struggles take place within and among nations over technology design? Thursday, June 13: Universal Service and Social Policy (Research Proposal is die) Part One: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Falling through the Net: A Survey of the `Have Nots' in Rural and Urban America (Washington: Dept. of Commerce, July 1995). Dordick, Herbert, "The Social Consequences of Liberalization and Corporate Control on Telecommunications," in William J. Drake (ed.), The New Information Infrastructure: Strategies for U.S. Policy (New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1995), pp 155-172. Melody, Bill, "Efficiency and Social Policy in Telecommunication: Lessons from the U.S. Experience," Journal of Economic Issues Vol. 23, No. 3 (September 1989), pp. 657-687. Part Two: Hadden, Susan E., and Edward Lenert, "Telecommunications networks are not VCRs: the public nature of new information technologies for universal service," Media, Culture and Society Volume 17 (1995), pp. 121-140. Bernt, Phyllis, Hans Kruse, and David Landsbergen, "Impact of Alternative Technologies on Universal Service and Competition in the Local loop," Telematics and Informatics Vol. 10, No. 4 (1993), pp. 359-377. Questions: 1/ Is there a public interest in increasing the quality and capacity of services on the public network? How should the costs of network modernization be distributed? 2/ What problems are encountered in efforts to make telephone service provision more efficient by linking prices to the cost causation of different services? Who should pay for access to the local and inter-exchange telephone network? Is the subscriber line charge necessary of equitable? 3/ Is some competition a useful political value to reduce risks of regulatory capture, as argued by Bill Melody? Or does society pay more in terms of sustainable but economically inefficient competition in some services, as argued by Kevin Wilson? Tuesday, June 18: Public Policy for the Intelligent Network Part One: Brock, Gerald, Telecommunication Policy for the Information Age: From Monopoly to Competition (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994), Chapters 12-15, pp. 217-302. Part Two: Branscomb, Anne Wells, "Who Owns Your Telephone Number?" in Who Owns Information? From Privacy to Public Access (New York: Basic Books, 1994), pp. 3-53. Samarajiva, Rohan, and Peter Shields, "Emergent institutions of the `intelligent network': Toward a theoretical understanding," Media, Culture and Society Vol. 14 (1992), pp. 397-419. McChesney, Robert, "The Internet and U.S. Communication Policy-Making in Historical and Critical Perspective," Journal of Communication Volume 46, Number 1 (Winter 1996), pp. 98-124. Questions for Consideration: Thursday, June 20: Cable Legislation and Policy Suzanne Douglas, "The Reagan Era: An Overview of U.S. Telecommunications Policy," Telematics and Informatics Vol. 7, No. 1 (1990), pp. 63-70. Chan-Olmsted, Sylvia M., and Barry R. Litman, "Antitrust and Horizontal Mergers in the Cable Industry," Journal of Media Economics Vol. 1, No. 2 (Fall 1988), pp. 3-28. Atkin, David J., "Cable exhibition in the USA: Ownership trends and implications of the 1992 Cable Act," Telecommunications Policy Vol. 18, No. 4 (May-June 1994), pp. 331-341. Baldwin, Thomas, D. Stevens McVoy, and Charles Steinfeld, Convergence: Integrating Media, Information, and Communication (Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1996), Chapter 4, pp. 78-103. Questions: Tuesday, June 25: House of Representatives Debates on the Telecommunications Act Part One: Video presentation of House of Representatives debates on HR 1555 (Telecommunicaitons Act) Congressional Record, August 4, 1995, pp H Ronald J. Binz, National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, Testimony before the House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee, May 11, 1995. Larry Irving, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, U.S. Department of Commerce, Testimony on HR 1555, before the House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee, May 11, 1995. Bradley Stillman, CFA Telecommunications Policy Director, Statement On H.R. 1555, before the House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee, Committee on Commerce, May 11, 1995. Gerald Levin, Chairman and CEO of Time Warner Inc., Statement regarding H.R. 1555 before the house Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee, United States House of Representatives, May 10, 1995. Part Two: Drake, William J, "The National Information Infrastructure Debate: Issues, Interests and the Congressional Process," in William J. Drake (ed.), The New Information Infrastructure: Strategies for U.S. Policy (New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1995), pp. 305-344. Geller, Henry, "Reforming the U.S. Telecommunications Policymaking Process," in William J. Drake (ed.), The New Information Infrastructure: Strategies for U.S. Policy (New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1995), pp. 115-136. Thursday, June 27: Conclusions: The New Telecommunications Policy Environment Friday, June 28: No class session, policy research paper is due by 2:00 pm.