nettime: Kommentar zum Telebill (USA)

[Tilman Baumgaertel <100131.2223@compuserve.com>]

---------- Weitergeleitete Nachricht ----------


Aus cl.medien.vernetzung.......

voila:
                "The name of the game is Monopoly"
The Anarchives                          Volume 3 Issue 2
        The Anarchives                  Published By
                The Anarchives          The Anarchy Organization
                        The Anarchives  tao@lglobal.com

               --/\--                   AT&T buys
             /  /  \  \                 a Bill
         ---|--/----\--|---
             \/      \/                 Welcome to the
             /\______/\                 Information Age

-~ -~ -~ -~ -~ -~ -~ -~ -~ -~ -~ -~ -~ -~ -~ -~ -~ -~ -~ -~

February 9 1996

With the passing of the U$ 1996 Telecommunications Bill, we begin the
game of monopoly, and we will see the rise of a new monopoly, a
conglomeration of existing information providers, the ministry of
communications for the emerging corporate state, an embodiment if not
explicitly AT&T.

The telecommunications <or what will soon be termed 'communications>
industry is inherently a monopoly. At least that's what the monopoly will
argue when it finally wins the game.
Traditionally communication monopolies have been held in check by
regulation from public institutions, and geographic separation by
containing monopolies within regional markets.
The U$ Telecommunications Bill removes regulation, and introduces the
double-speak 'competition', freeing monopolies to compete with each other
across areas of local and long-distance markets. The double-speak comes
in the fact that you need billions of dollars to compete in the first place.

In quoting Robert E. Allen, Chairman and C.E.O. of AT&T, "the fast lane
has opened up", we are witnessing the continued acceleration of
technological change, and the simultaneous acceleration of AT&T's
imperial penetration into all communication markets.

The Telecommunications Bill carried with it provisions for the V-Chip, a
piece of technology that promises to 'filter' television violence.
This part of the bill is a RED HERRING for both supporters and opponents,
drawing attention away from the crucial decision of telecom. deregulation.
As if filtering television violence will even dent the rise of violence
in our society. Violence that stems with an indentity crisis induced by
the rapid deployment of information technology, and the submersion of
the self within the technological mass. Of course we're told the
solution to violence is just more technology, itself enhancing our
virtual reality.
'here let's put some salt on that wound...'

Two 'baby bells', NYNEX and Bell Atlantic, local phone monopolies
covering the north-eastern U$, are about to merge, and form a runner-up
to monolith AT&T. Concentration justified by competition.
Everyone will grow fat, cause everyone is getting fatter.
Those who don't eat, will be eaten.

And with AT&T's recent announcement of a divestiture, they will have the
flexibility and Ca$h necessary to traverse local and global markets,
benefitting from the cross-subsidized marketing machine, and the value of
a loyal and established 'brand'.

To quote Robert E. Allen again:
"We'll build our own network facilities to offer local services."

As AT&T brags about 'building' the Global Information Infrastructure,
they also announce a huge sale where they're selling all of their
equipment manufacturing facilities. Why? Cause they were no longer the
most profitable and successful telecomm equipment makers in the world.
Northern Telecom now is. Why? Because NorTel adopted the digital switch a
decade ahead of AT&T. So why is AT&T claiming they're going to be
building the infohighway? Cause they're going to buy Northern Telecom.
NorTel has recently scored contracts in China, Brazil, and the U$.
They're the company building the networks of the world. With the money
from the divestiture AT&T could easily buy NorTel.
If they were really keen, they could increase there 2% stake in Bell
Canada Enterprises, thus buying NorTel, Bell, and Bell Northern Labs,
securing the world's best equipment corp., Canada's top R&D lab, and the
Ontario and Quebec telecomm markets. Thus AT&T would be creating the
foundation for North American corporate governance.

Yet how does AT&T dominate the market, and how will they continue to
dominate and eventually conquer the market?
The easy and obvious answer is of course capital. AT&T has more, and
controls more, and this certainly helps with ye olde corporate
organization. However that is not the key focus of their success.
AT&T will conquer markets as a result of the strategic use of artificial
intelligence and neural networks.
Artificial intelligence to navigate information networks, to manage
marketing campaigns, to handle statistical and research data, to manage
capital, and to manage the huge networks that are emerging as the global
information infrastructure.
This is the technology that AT&T markets as 'Intelligent Assistants', and
this is the technology that will give AT&T the competitive advantage.

In beginning his speach, Robert E. Allen said:
"We've seen an all-out bi-partisan effort. The administration and both
parties in Congress pullled together on a major issue that will touch the
lives of everyone in this - and we've seen it happen at the beginning of
a major election year."

When i and i first read this paragraph I passed over it as just filler in
the intro, but as i and i read on i and i realized the revealing nature of
the passage.
All levels of the U$ government, congress, senate, and the executive,
both parties, all supported the Bill.
Why?
Cause they _all_ got bought off by the powerful telecommunications industry.
AT&T sponsored the 1996 U$ elections, and in return can now enter the
$US 80 Billion dollar local phone market, let alone the rest of the
communications market they now spread unto.

The name of the game is monopoly,
and the medium is the machine,
the thinking evolving corporate machine.

love and mighty media analysis
from the tao properganja center...
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