The report was blasted by newspapers across the country. Even certain members of the Commission, including Lois Jean White of the National PTA and former FCC Chairman Newton Minnow raised serious questions about the report. While the report falls far short of meeting the Gore Commission's charge to determine what obligations DTV broadcasters owe the public, it is a starting point in an important debate. Almost none of the debate about the report or the process that created it occurred in public view, because television stations, perhaps fearing regulation, kept the issue off the local and national news. The spectrum give-away and the secrecy surrounding this important debate are travesties of American democracy.
Television is the most influential image and information machine of American society.
Whether airing a sitcom, feature film, advertisement or political speech, TV wields huge social and economic power. PC-TV set convergence will exponentially magnify the importance and influence of the medium by marrying it with the power of the Internet. It is still possible that the Clinton Administration, Congress, the FCC will rise to their obligations to you and your family in the digital age. As you know, however, a free and open debate about the future of personal privacy, sex and violence on television, educational and children's programming and political discourse is not dangerous. It is the most necessary element of a free and open society.