ABSTRACT
The merging of the computer and communications technologies in the late 1960's only complicated the Commission's problem in developing a Domestic Satellite (DOMSAT) policy. A variety of policy makers and personalities was very much in evidence throughout the DOMSAT proceedings. The influences that the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations had on DOMSAT were manifested in the Communications Satellite Act of 1962, which laid the foundations for DOMSAT. But both the Johnson and Nixon administrations would play major roles before the DOMSAT policy was finalized, and an assortment of personalities would participate. The DOMSAT policy that was finally reached was primarily a product of political reaction to a new invention in a field that was dominated by one private company on the ground and another one in the sky. If Congress had chosen to promote a total monopoly posture for Communications Satellite Corporation over all sky-circuitry, such would have been the determination of DOMSAT policy.
