[What I would like to see in 60 years is] many competitors, in a market-driven environment, providing low-priced, high-quality information services to every American, with the government playing only a minimal role in assuring that the marketplace works. And I would like to see networks open to any kid with a bright idea. Any kid with a bright idea should have an opportunity to get on the information highway and sell his or her idea without having to sell out to a monopoly.
Predictor: Markey, Edward
Prediction, in context:In a 1994 article for Wired magazine, John Browning writes about key legislative decisionmaking expected to open networks to competition from top to bottom, quoting Rep. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance and co-author with Jack Fields (R-Texas) of a key piece of telecom-reform legislation known as the Markey-Fields bill. The bill would force former telecom monopolists to provide competitors with access to their wires, switches, etc.; would allow cable companies to provide phone service and phone companies to provide video programming. Browning asks Markey, “What would you hope the Communications Act of 1994 would have achieved in 60 years?” He quotes Markey’s reply: ”[What I would like to see in 60 years is] many competitors, in a market-driven environment, providing low-priced, high-quality information services to every American, with the government playing only a minimal role in assuring that the marketplace works. And I would like to see networks open to any kid with a bright idea. Any kid with a bright idea should have an opportunity to get on the information highway and sell his or her idea without having to sell out to a monopoly.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: Role of Govt./Industry
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Power PC: As You Read This, The Final Deals Are Being Cut On Radically New Communications Regulations. To Find Out What Rep. Ed Markey and Other Insiders Are Arguing About This Summer, Read On
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.07/markey_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney