... Yet the cultural values in many parts of the world assume that information must necessarily be a shared resource. For example, in a medieval theocratic society within a nunnery or a monastery the scribes who worked so diligently in their for scriptorias produced their for elegant manuscripts benefit. the glory of God and not their personal The social institution within which they operated provided the simple needs of life. Since the talents and skills that they possessed were God given, it would be unseemly to suggest that an individual should receive personal financial benefit from their exploitation. Rewards for excellence were to be delivered in the hereafter not the here and now ...

... Those charged with the responsibility for representing the various telecommunications interests should analyze their positions within the framework of a global system. Perhaps they will discover that their parochial and public responsibilities more often coincide than diverge. The demands of global electronic networks in the service of a global economy demand statesmanship on a level not hereto- fore exercised. Leadership trained in cooperative, arbitrative, and negotiative skills are needed, for competition alone will not suffice to manage resources which must by their nature be shared.

Law is in not a static, unchanging prison in which we, like Prometheus, are bound to suffer the inevitable miseries of a destiny dictated by the Gods. Our legal system is the manifestation of our highest aspirations. It is deeply rooted in our cultural traditions and designed to serve our common purposes. Let us work together as legal, technical, government, and corporate leaders to improve the legal infrastructure of our global telecommunications system to serve our common needs. | anne w. branscomb, "for global information transport", 1983