Jul-1-93 (EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS)
INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION REGARDING BILLBOARDS IN SPACE

Note: This document is the unofficial version of the Congressional Record.
	The printed Congressional Record produced by the Government
	Printing Office is the only official version

PART		CONGRESSIONAL RECORD (EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS)
DATE		July 1, 1993
PAGE									PAGE E1732
TITLE		INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION REGARDING BILLBOARDS IN SPACE
																		 --------------------
TEXT				HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY
				OF MASSACHUSETTS
			IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
				THURSDAY, JULY 1, 1993
		Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a bipartisan
	piece of legislation, the Space Advertising Prohibition Act of
	1993. What will our world be like if Space Marketing, Inc., the
	Georgia-based company seeking to launch mile-long billboards made
	from mylar sheets into low Earth orbit, has its way? Children will
	learn a new nursery rhyme: `hey diddle diddle, the cat and the
	fiddle, the cow jumped over the mylar.` They will make a wish upon
	a falling billboard.` Carl Sagan might even be heard referring to
	those `billions and billions of billboards in space.` And while
	Bartlett`s Book of Quotations lists 144 quotes about `the moon` and
	235 quotes about `the stars,` there is not one about `billboards.`
	In fact, the only quote ever inspired by a billboard was by Ogden
	Nash and it is worth thinking about: `I think I shall never see, a
	billboard lovely as a tree.  Indeed, unless the billboards fall,
	I`ll never see a tree at all.`
		If allowed to happen, this scheme will send square mile-size
	mylar billboards into low Earth orbit so that every sunrise and
	sunset would beam down the logo of Coke or G.M. or the Marlboro
	man, turning our morning and evening skies, often a source of
	inspiration and comfort, into the moral equivalent of the side of a
	bus.
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	We might stand in this Chamber today and laugh about the notion
	of enormous billboards floating above the horizon or convince
	ourselves that it just couldn`t happen.  But if left unchecked it
	just might happen.  Would companies pay $1 million a day for a
	single billboard? Already today they might spend half that on a
	single TV ad.  In aggregate, U.S. businesses buy well over $100
	billion of advertising annually to generate demand for their
	products.

	I am relieved that the tidal wave of opposition to this idea has
	caused Space Marketing, Inc., to back down, for now, from its
	original intention to put these signs in space.  But if there is
	money to be made then it is just a matter of time until someone,
	somewhere tries to do it.  With the technological capability to put
	billboards in space already established, the question of whether we
	want advertising beamed down to us from space needs to be
	carefully considered by Congress.

	That is why, along with my colleagues Susan Molinari, Anna Eshoo,
	Connie Morella, Eric Fingerhut, Frank McCloskey, William Lipinski,
	Douglas Bereuter, Barney Frank, Anthony Beilenson, Romano Mazzoli,
	Maurice Hinchey, Bob Filner, Fred Upton, and William Hughes, I am
	proud to introduce the Space Advertising Prohibition Act of 1993.
	We are going to work very hard to control this frightful prospect
	and keep our skies clear to remain a source of inspiration to us
	all.
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				H.R. -
	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
	United States of America in Congress assembled,
PAGE									PAGE E1732
				SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
	This Act may be cited as the `Space Advertising Prohibition Act`.
			SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON SPACE ADVERTISING.
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	(a) Amendment to Findings. - Section 2 of the Commercial Space
	Launch Act (49 U.S.C. App. 2601) is amended -
	(1) in paragraph (8), by striking `and` at the end;
	(2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at the end and
	inserting `; and`; and
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	(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
	`(10) the use of outer space for advertising purposes is not an
	appropriate use of outer space and should be prohibited.`.
	(b) Amendment to Purposes. - Section 3 of the Commercial Space
	Launch Act (49 U.S.C. App. 2602) is amended -
									PAGE E1733
	(1) in paragraph (3), by striking `and` at the end;
	(2) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end and
	inserting `; and`;
	(3) by inserting at the end the following new paragraph:
									PAGE E1733
	`(5) to prohibit the use of outer space for advertising
	purposes.`.
	(c) Definition. - Section 4 of the Commercial Space Launch Act (49
	U.S.C. App. 2603) is amended -
	(1) by redesignating paragraphs (10) through (12) as paragraphs
	(11) through (13), respectively; and
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	(2) by inserting after paragraph (9) the following new paragraph:
	`(10) `space advertising` means advertising in outer space,
	including the placement of images or objects in outer space that
	are visible from Earth, for purposes of marketing or otherwise
	promoting the sale or use of goods or services;`.
	(d) Prohibition on Space Advertising. - The Commercial Space
	Launch Act (49 U.S.C. 2601 et. seq.) is amended by inserting after
	section 10 the following new section:
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		`SEC. 10A. PROHIBITION ON SPACE ADVERTISING.
	`(a) Secretarial Actions. - The Secretary shall not -
	`(1) issue or transfer a license under this Act; or
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	`(2) waive the license requirements of this Act,
	for the launch of a payload containing any material to be used for
	purposes of space advertising.
	`(b) Prohibition. - No holder of a license under this Act shall
	launch a payload containing any material to be used for purposes of
	space advertising.
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	`(c) Civil Penalties. - Any person who violates subsection (b)
	shall be subject to a civil penalty, not to exceed $30,000,000,
	which shall be assessed by the Secretary.
	`(d) Revocation and Issuance of Licenses. - (1) The Secretary
	shall revoke any license held by a person who violates subsection
	(b).
	`(2) Any person who violates subsection (b) shall not be issued a
	license under this Act for a period of 2 years from the date on
	which the Secretary finds that such person has violated subsection
	(b), or if such finding is appealed, the date on which the
	appropriate court issues a final judgment in favor of the
	Secretary.`.
									PAGE E1733
		SEC. 3. AGREEMENTS WITH FOREIGN NATIONS.
	The President, acting through the Secretary of State, is requested
	to negotiate with foreign nations for the purpose of reaching an
	agreement or agreements that prohibit the use of outer space for
	advertising purposes.
			--------------------
	Cosponsors of the Space Advertising Prohibition Act: Ms. Susan
	Molinari, Ms. Anna Eshoo, Ms. Connie Morella, Mr. Eric Fingerhut,
	Mr. Frank McCloskey, Mr. William Lipinski, Mr. Douglas Bereuter,
	Mr. Barney Frank, Mr. Anthony Beilenson, Mr. Romano Mazzoli, Mr.
	Maurice Hinchey, Mr. Bob Filner, Mr. Fred Upton, Mr. William
	Hughes.
									PAGE E1733
			BILLBOARDS IN OUTER SPACE
	Billboards in orbit: On April 12, 1993 a Georgia-based company
	announced that they have the technology and intention to put
	gigantic billboards in orbit around the Earth. These billboards
	will be one mile long, one mile wide and made of mylar.  Visible
	from Earth by the naked eye, they are half as large as the full
	moon.

	The public doesn`t want billboards in space: There has been a
	tremendous public backlash to this proposal.  However, if there is
	the potential for profit, we must assume that there is someone,
	somewhere, who will try to put billboards in space.  Presently
	there is no regulation preventing their use.
									PAGE E1733
	Our bill will put end to billboards in space: The `Space
	Advertising Prohibition Act` will prohibit the launch into outer
	space of a payload containing any material which will be visible
	from Earth which will be used for purposes of marketing or
	otherwise promoting the sale or use of goods and services.
	Prohibition of the United States is not enough: Our bill requests
	that the President, acting through the Secretary of State negotiate
	with foreign nations for the purpose of reaching agreements that
	will prohibit anyone else in the world from invading the skies with
	advertising.
	There is bi-partisan support for this bill: Support for this bill
	is led by Representatives Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Susan Molinari
	(R-NY), Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) and Connie Morella (R-MD), and many
	other co-sponsors.
									PAGE E1733
	Opposition to billboards in space is widespread: The Astronomical
	League, U.S. PIRG, Center for Study of Commercialism, Center for
	Science in the Public Interest, Environmental Action, Scenic
	America, National Audubon Society, and renowned astronomer Carl
	Sagan, among others, have already thrown their support behind this
	bill.  There is no question that more and more scientific,
	environmental and consumer groups will join us as soon as they get
	wind of the preposterous idea of advertising in space.
				--------------------
					Coalition Opposing Billboards
						in Outer-Space
					Washington, DC, May 13, 1993.
	Nandasiri Jasentuliyana,
	Director, Office on Outer-Space Affairs, General Secretary,
	Committee on the Peaceful Use of Outer-Space, United Nations,
	New York, NY.
									PAGE E1733
	Dear Mr. Jasentuliyana: An American marketer, Space Marketing,
	Inc., is seeking a commercial sponsor for a mile-long billboard to
	be sent into earth orbit.  The vehicle will project a corporate
	logo as large as the moon to people on Earth.
	The undersigned coalition of consumer, environmental, and
	scientific organizations condemns Space Marketing`s proposal to
	commercialize the heavens.  We urge the United Nation`s Committee
	on the Peaceful Use of Outer-Space to issue a resolution against
	this type of venture.
	Such a billboard is an abuse of international space, adding to
	the debris problem, destroying the serene nocturnal skyline, and
	interfering with astronomical research.  Space Marketing has
	claimed that the vehicle could help monitor the ozone layer, but
	that benefit is meaningless because existing satellites monitor
	ozone levels without polluting the sky with commercials.
									PAGE E1733
	We fear Space Marketing`s proposal could open the door to other
	advertising forays in space.  We hope that your agency will
	discourage Space Marketing from launching the billboard and urge
	the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration not to
	support the project.
	We are also asking Space Marketing to abandon its plans.  We hope
	that your office supports our position and will publicly denounce
	the commercial pollution of space.
	Signed:
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	Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
	Astronomical League.
	International Dark-Sky Association.
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	Scenic America.
	Center for Science in the Public Interest.
	Center for the Study of Commercialism.
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	National Consumers League.
	National Audubon Society.
	Environmental Action.
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	Earth Day 2000.
	U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
	Public Media Center.
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	Center for Media Education.
	Cornell University, Center for Radiophysics and Space Research,
					Ithaca, NY, June 3, 1993.
	Representative Ed Markey,
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	U.S. Congress, Washington, DC.
	Dear Ed: I wonder if you`ve been following the space billboard
	issue.  I think it`s an abomination.  It is the thin edge of a
	wedge which may destroy optical ground-based astromony, the most
	ancient of the sciences.  In the long run it means that there will
	be no place on Earth safe from advertisers.  It opens the door to
	political, ideological, and religious sloganeering from the skies.
	It is an attack on science, an invasion of privacy for everyone, an
	aesthetic affront, and a misuse of the engineering talent in the
	national laboratories.
	I understand that you`ve been thinking about this issue and just
	wanted to encourage you to sponsor a bill putting some real
	limitations on this brilliant idea.
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	With warm good wishes,
		Cordially,				Carl Sagan.
				--------------------
			(FROM THE BOSTON GLOBE, MAY 14, 1993)
			ADS IN SPACE? DON`T LOOK NOW, BUT . . .
				(BY DIANNE DUMANOSKI)
									PAGE E1733
	Space. The final frontier.  And Space Marketing Inc. wants to
	boldly go where no one has gone before - to put the first billboard
	in space.  No, this is not a gag from `Saturday Night Live.`
	The company, based in Roswell, Ga., is serious about launching a
	giant inflatable billboard into orbit so it can be seen by billions
	of people around the world.  The mile-long billboard, which would
	be launched via rocket in 1996 and orbit the Earth for about three
	weeks, would appear to be about the size of a full moon as it
	loomed overhead.

	Yesterday, consumer activists, environmentalists and astronomers
	launched a campaign to stop what they see as a commercial insult to
	the heavens.  The coalition, called Save Our Skies, appealed to
	United Nations officials to pass a resolution condemning the
	venture and held news conferences and demonstrations at several
	sites around the country in protest.
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	`You`ve got marketers trying to co-opt one of the last ad-free
	zones on earth,` said Karen Brown of the Center for the Study of
	Commercialism, a nonprofit group in Washington that is organizing
	the campaign. `It`s nothing less than intergalactic pollution.`
	Astronomer Carl Sagan condemned the proposal, calling it an
	`abomination. It is the thin wedge which may destroy optical
	ground-based astronomy, the most ancient of sciences.`
	A spokesman for Space Marketing said yesterday that the plan was
	a creative way to fund research in a time of shrinking federal
	funds.
									PAGE E1733
	`It will support environmental sensors that will do readings on
	the Earth`s ozone layer,` Mike Jones said. `This is a continuation
	of ozone monitoring paid for by private industry not private
	taxpayers.`
	But what about the billboard?
	`We will not allow it to be giant beer cans or giant golden
	arches,` Jones promised. `Our hope is it will be some sort of
	environmental symbol.`
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	However, the idea of an environmental symbol appears to have
	surfaced after the plan set off a storm of criticism.  In earlier
	news reports and company news releases, Mike Lawson, chief
	executive officer of Space Marketing, is quoted as saying that he
	was seeking a corporate underwriter with a universal recognized
	logo that could appear on the billboard at a cost of between $15
	million and $30 million.
	The journal Advertising Age described the plan for an orbiting
	billboard as `the most ambitious marketing endeavor ever
	contemplated.`
	Touting the advantage of space advertising in a news release,
	Space Marketing says: `Aside from merely having a logo or message
	on the platform, sponsoring companies also have the ability to
	tailor design the orbit so that it will pass over `key populations`
	at the same time during ideal daylight viewing times.`
									PAGE E1733
	At the end of the three-week period, Jones said, the highly
	reflective Mylar substance bearing the symbol or logo would
	disintegrate, and the supporting platform, invisible after the logo
	was destroyed, would continue to orbit for a full year, monitoring
	ozone.
	What information would this provide that is not already being
	provided by NASA`s ozone monitoring program?
	Jones said he was not certain and was unable to provide the name
	of any scientist working with the company on plans for ozone
	monitoring.  He referred questions to two scientists he said are
	working on the overall project.
									PAGE E1733
	One of those named, Preston Carter of the Lawrence Livermore
	National Laboratory in California, referred inquiries to the lab`s
	public relations office.
	`What we are doing on this is zero,` said Jeff Garberson, a
	Livermore spokesman. `We are absolutely not sending sensors up on
	billboards.  We are undertaking no work in this area and have no
	intention of undertaking work in this area.
	Garberson said activists carrying signs protested the proposed
	space billboard outside the lab yesterday.
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	Garberson said that Carter is a friend of Lawson, the Space
	Marketing chief executive officer, and that the two had had phone
	conversations. `Preston Carter did talk to them but it never got
	beyond talking,` he said.
	Brian Dunbar, a NASA spokesman, said he knew nothing about the
	ozone monitoring being planned by the firm.
	He said NASA satellites monitor ozone record data for periods of
	18 months to three years and that there are plans for new
	monitoring systems that could record ozone data for 15 years.
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	Because of the way ozone varies, `one year`s worth of ozone data
	is not going to do you a whole lot of good,` he said.
	Federal approval from the Department of Transportation would
	probably be needed before the project could go forward.
	But if Space Marketing proceeds with its plans, opponents are
	threatening to boycott any company that underwrites the effort.
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	`Americans` vision of the 21st century does not include corporate
	logos dotting the sky and sunsets sponsored by your favorite soft
	drink` said Rob Sargent, of Mass-PIRG, which has joined the
	national protest. `Any company crazy enough to advertise on a space
	billboard will be sorry.`
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									PAGE E1734
OUTLINE	1. INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION REGARDING BILLBOARDS IN
		SPACE							E1732
	2. HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY					E1732
	OF MASSACHUSETTS						E1732
	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES			E1732
	THURSDAY, JULY 1, 1993					E1732
	3. H.R. -								E1733
	4. SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.					E1733
	5. SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON SPACE ADVERTISING.	E1733
	6. `SEC. 10A. PROHIBITION ON SPACE ADVERTISING.	E1733
	7. SEC. 3. AGREEMENTS WITH FOREIGN NATIONS.	E1733
	8. BILLBOARDS IN OUTER SPACE				E1733
	9. (FROM THE BOSTON GLOBE, MAY 14, 1993)		E1733
	ADS IN SPACE? DON`T LOOK NOW, BUT . . .		E1733
	(BY DIANNE DUMANOSKI)					E1733