Pay television and entertainment have hijacked the debate about the information superhighway, against the national interest, according to media proprietor Kerry Stokes. The information side was running a poor second, he told an ABC Four Corners program devoted to the information highway last night. He said questions of national sovereignty needed to be asked about Australian corporations and defence bodies being dependent on software codes resident under lock and key in the US.
While he admired the head of Microsoft, Bill Gates, “”I just think our nation is a sovereign nation and it shouldn’t be a subsidiary of Microsoft.” Mr Stokes, who is chairman of The Canberra Times, listed major concerns about the direction Australia is going with the information highway: DOT Unnecessary duplication of hardware and delivery platforms such as Optus and Telecom laying duplicate cable. DOT Concentration on delivery of services to high-profit centres to Sydney and Melbourne, to the detriment of regional Australia.
DOT Lack of competition in delivery of services because of prohibitive entry costs and vertical integration. DOT Whether it is wise to be dependent on foreign software. DOT The lack of information and understanding within the Australian public of the information issues because they have been confused by the entertainment debate. DOT A general failure to set the national interest as the aim of the information highway and the failure to set national goals for the future. On competition, Mr Stokes said, “”I would like to have seen a government policy in which there was a government infrastructure available to all parties and actually created more competition.”
Telecom, Optus and others could compete equally as providers on that platform. On sovereignty he agreed that Bill Gates could get the ear of the Prime Minister and say: “”You should put your information on the Microsoft network.” Mr Stokes said, “”He’s a great salesman and they have a great product. I’m not putting down Microsoft. I just keep coming back to my vision for Australia is that it’s Australia, and my vision for Australia is that we have a control of our own destiny. . . . We’ll end up where even national security and other areas of importance will travel on that (Microsoft) platform that we don’t even have source codes for. . . . We hand the keys of the gate to a foreigner to open the doors when they choose to.”
Australians were being sucked in by the enticements of foreign software and hardware people and if it continued Australians would be the losers because they did not always deliver what they promised. Mr Stokes said the national social impact of the information highway should be looked at, instead of the concentration on entertainment and pay TV. Australians should be aware of the great promises of technology for education and health _ especially because of the remoteness of some Australian communities. But those benefits would elude Australians if the superhighway became a supertollway and short-term commercial interests over-rode national interest.