“With the advent of fiber-optic [cables], it is conceivable that a single transmission medium could become the conduit for newspapers, electronic mail, local and network broadcasting, video rentals, cable television and a host of other information services,” says Robert Corn-Revere … He argues that the day is passing when government can justify licensing and regulating media.
Predictor: Corn-Revere, Robert
Prediction, in context:The 1995 book “The Information Revolution,” edited by Donald Altschiller, carries a reprint of the Jan. 23, 1995, U.S. News & World Report article “Policing Cyberspace” by Vince Sussman. Sussman explores First Amendment rights in cyberspace. The article contains an interview with Robert Corn-Revere, a former Federal Communications Commission official who now practices First Amendment law. Sussman writes: ”Though the First Amendment asserts there should be no law abridging freedom of speech or the press, there have been laws aplenty in the last three generations that regulate speech on new kinds of technology. Different restrictions apply to telephones, radio and TV stations and cable TV. But cyberspace is a convergence of media and the blurring distinctions between transmission modes. ‘With the advent of fiber-optic [cables], it is conceivable that a single transmission medium could become the conduit for newspapers, electronic mail, local and network broadcasting, video rentals, cable television and a host of other information services,’ says Robert Corn-Revere, a former Federal Communications Commission official who now practices First Amendment law. He argues that the day is passing when government can justify licensing and regulating media.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Censorship/Free Speech
Name of publication: The Information Revolution (book)
Title, headline, chapter name: Policing Cyberspace
Quote Type: Partial quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 116
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Guarino, Jennifer Anne