WAISP Membership Update -- 8/2/99 (fwd) For Your Info

[Joel Ware IV]

Forwarded for your info --
SCN is a member of WAISP -- I am the designated representative from SCN.
WAISP is the Washington Association of Internet Service Providers -- see
their web page for more general info about the organization:
	http://www.waisp.org

Joel Ware, IV  Governance Committee   jw4 at scn.org


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 22:04:05 -0700
From: Gary Gardner--Executive Director <exec-director at waisp.org>
To: exec-director at waisp.org
Subject: WAISP Membership Update -- 8/2/99

WAISP Membership Update 8/2/99

It has been a somewhat quiet summer so far, but we have plenty of pending
issues and news.

Cable Modem Issue

As you no doubt have heard, the Broward County, Florida council has
mandated Open Access for that community, following the lead of Portland,
OR.  Meanwhile, closer to home the King County Expert Review Panel has
convened and started work.  WAISP Board member Ralph Sims sits on the
Panel, as does "retired" founding WAISP member Jeff Sterling who founded
IXA.

The Panel has held two meetings, and heard from the county departments
responsible for cable regulation.  The next two meetings will focus on fact
finding and presentations from various "stake holders".  I will testify for
WAISP, as a member of the Pacific Northwest Open Access Coalition, along
with GTE and AOL, on Tuesday 8/3.  All of the Panels meetings are open to
the public, held on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday's of each month in the King
County Courthouse.  There will be an opportunity for interested ISPs to
testify in the coming weeks and we will let you know.


USWest ISDN Tariff - Time to Force a WUTC Review?

Several WAISP members are concerned about USWest's high price for ISDN
service, especially in light of recent price reductions by Sprint United.
We are investigating and considering filing for a mandatory review of
USWest's ISDN tariff and will be soliciting your input directly in the
coming weeks.


Seattle City Zoning

The Seattle City Department of Land Use has raised the issue of locating
ISPs in residential areas and if there should be zoning restrictions on
ISPs within the city limits.  As Seattle goes, so will a lot of other
cities in King County, as well as the County and other surrounding areas.
We are working closely with the staff, who have raised some interesting
questions.  Our attorney Rich Busch has some of the zoning experts at his
firm also looking into the issue.  The Department expects to have a draft
regulation ready for city council review in September.  If you are curious
as to the types of questions being asked by the staff, let me know and I'll
forward you the questions, and your help in answering might be useful in
developing a strategy.


On Line Privacy

The Washington Attorney General has appointed me to her Consumer
Information Privacy workgroup.  This workgroup will be meeting over the
next few months to look at how information is collected and used by
business - particularly "personal" information.    The group was put
together after numerous press reports and consumer complaints about private
information being shared.  (Credit card numbers etc..)  In the next few
days all WAISP members will get a short questionnaire from me, and your
prompt reply will be quite helpful in developing our position within this
Workgroup.


Association Member News

WAISP Founding Member and past President Troy Roper, CEO of Northwest Link
has sold the company to MDM I-Net.  Troy will remain as Vice President of
Operations.  Troy says there are no plans to change current NWL operations.

Another founding WAISP member, Chris Caputo, President of Altopia
Corporation, and new WAISP Board member has announced his candidacy for
King County Council, District 4. He is running as a Libertarian for the
seat currently held by Democrat Larry Philips.



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