1. Who should produce and distribute information? Public vs. private provision of information--dissemination, user fees, access.

• support for libraries
• consumer information
• emergency preparedness

2. How can government encourage the production and dissemination of information?

• do it
• provide a subsidy to producers, operators, users, etc.
• define property rights (e.g., patent, copyright, trade secrecy)
• support/encourage infrastructure (see NTIA Activites )
• user education

3. Privacy, Freedom of Information laws, data protection statutes

4. Libel and slander vs. freedom of speech

5. National security policies--classification, export controls.

6. Telecommunications policy--PTT's vs. regulated utilities/common carriers vs. competition.

7. Mass media/broadcasting policy--ownership, content, regulation, licensing of journalists.

8. Education policy.

9. Labor/workforce issues.

10. Industrial policy--information infrastructure, technical compatibility standards.

11. Maintenance of cultural values.

S. Braman, "Defining information: An approach for policy makers," Telecommunications Policy, Sept. 1989, pp. 233-42.
A. W. Branscomb, Who Owns Information? From Privacy to Public Access (New York: Basic Books, 1994).
P. Hernon & H. Relyea, "Information Policy," in Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, vol. 48 (suppl. 11) (1991), pp. 176-204.
M. Jussawalla, et al., eds., Information Technology And Global Independence (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1989).
C. McClure, et al., eds., United States Government Information Policies: Views And Perspectives (Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1989).
Prepared by Yale Braunstein for IS 101; 28 Jan. 1997