I do not believe there will be a Bit Police. The FCC is too smart. Its mandate is to see advanced information and entertainment-service proliferate in the public interest. There is simply no way to limit the freedom of bit radiation any more than the Romans could stop Christianity, even though a few brave and early data broadcasters will be eaten by the Washington lions in the process.
Predictor: Negroponte, Nicholas
Prediction, in context:In a 1993 article for Wired magazine, Nicholas Negroponte of MIT’s Media Lab writes: ”What will happen in television in the next five years is so phenomenal that it’s difficult to comprehend. On the one hand, it is easy to state: We are in the process of leaving an analog world and entering a digital one … audio, video and data … are all bits … I do not believe there will be a Bit Police. The FCC is too smart. Its mandate is to see advanced information and entertainment-service proliferate in the public interest. There is simply no way to limit the freedom of bit radiation any more than the Romans could stop Christianity, even though a few brave and early data broadcasters will be eaten by the Washington lions in the process.”
Biography:Nicholas Negroponte, a co-founder of MIT’s Media Lab and a popular speaker and writer about technologies of the future, wrote one of the 1990s’ best-selling books about the new future of communications, “Being Digital.” (Pioneer/Originator.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1993
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Jurisdiction/Control
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: The Bit Police: Will the FCC Regulate Licenses to Radiate Bits?
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.02/negroponte_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney