AT&T vs BELL LABS

Notes

Self-published paper posted by the author on his own site (The Noll View). Dated January 6, 2016; cover line "© 2016 A. Michael Noll". Four pages with an abstract, sections headed BACKGROUND, THE CONFRONTATION, AFTERMATH and DISCUSSION, and twelve endnote references. A note states that the memoranda quoted were found in the papers of Dr. William O. Baker as they were being prepared for archiving, and that the Baker papers are at the Mudd Manuscript Library at Princeton University.. Self-archived by the author at http://noll.uscannenberg.org/TheNollViewfiles/ATT%20vs%20BTL%20PAPER%201st%20Person.pdf — Noll posts his own papers on his site at noll.uscannenberg.org, which is where this copy comes from. Hosting here is with his agreement, given to Bre Pettis directly on 6 October 2026. Noll documents, from memoranda found in William O. Baker's papers, the mid-1960s conflict between AT&T and Bell Labs over publicising research AT&T did not consider telecommunications. Because AT&T funded the basic research, outside publications were routed for approval to Howard C. Craig, Engineering Director of R&D Studies at the AT&T Engineering Department in New York. The trigger may have been the April 1965 Computer-Generated Pictures show at the Howard Wise Gallery. Noll writes that AT&T objected strongly and even tried to cancel it; the show went ahead, but the works were copyrighted in the names of Julesz and Noll, who were instructed not to mention Bell Labs. In an August 1965 document Craig questioned work in “fringe areas” and objected to publishing on dental adhesives, computer art, computer music, the composition of DNA, concert-hall acoustics, simplified English and blood flow. John R. Pierce circulated a memorandum quoting Alexander Graham Bell's injunction to leave the beaten track, then adding that one should not publish or tell reporters without an official release. When AT&T refused clearance for Noll's paper comparing a computer-generated picture with a Mondrian, Pierce told him to publish it anyway. E. C. Read's January 1966 tally found that of almost 900 papers from the research area only a small number had caused trouble. The aftermath reads as deliberate defiance. Baker had Bell Labs host a symposium on The Human Use of Computing Machines at Murray Hill in June 1966 for about 200 invited academics, with Noll's computer art as the graphic theme. Pierce and Noll designed the videophone booth for 2001: A Space Odyssey, and AT&T objected to the Bell System seal on it. Harmon and Knowlton's computer-pixelated nude ran in The New York Times in October 1967 crediting Bell Labs without complaint. Points of record: Outside publications by Bell Labs researchers were cleared by Howard C. Craig, Engineering Director of R&D Studies at AT&T's Engineering Department in New York; AT&T objected to the April 1965 Howard Wise Gallery show and tried to cancel it; the works were copyrighted to Julesz and Noll, who were told not to mention Bell Labs; Craig's August 1965 document objected to publishing on dental adhesives, computer art, computer music, DNA composition, concert-hall acoustics, simplified English and blood flow; AT&T refused clearance for Noll's Mondrian comparison paper; John R. Pierce told him to publish it regardless; Baker responded by having Bell Labs host the June 20–21, 1966 symposium "The Human Use of Computing Machines" at Murray Hill for about 200 invited academics; Pierce and Noll designed the videophone booth for 2001: A Space Odyssey; AT&T objected to the Bell System seal because the decree barred overseas service. People named: A. Michael Noll (author; participant), Howard C. Craig (Engineering Director of R&D Studies, AT&T Engineering Department; the AT&T reviewer of Bell Labs papers), William O. Baker (Vice President, Research, Bell Labs; defended the work and ordered the 1966 symposium), John R. Pierce (Executive Director of a division in Baker's research area; told Noll to publish the Mondrian paper), Max V. Mathews (wrote to Baker about AT&T objecting to publication of research "byproducts"), E. C. Read (listed the specific papers that caused difficulty with AT&T in a January 21, 1966 memo), Bruce Strasser (named by Mathews as preparing to do battle with AT&T), Alexander Graham Bell (quoted in Pierce's memorandum; the "leave the beaten track" injunction carved on the bust at Murray Hill), Bela Julesz (co-exhibitor in the 1965 Howard Wise show; supplied the stereogram given to symposium attendees), Arthur C. Clarke (asked Pierce for ideas for 2001: A Space Odyssey), Leon Harmon and Kenneth C. Knowlton (made the computer-pixelated nude published in The New York Times, October 11, 1967), Stan VanDerBeek (artist; shown with Knowlton in Incredible Machine), Howard Wise (gallerist, Computer-Generated Pictures, April 1965), Piet Mondrian (subject of Noll's blocked comparison paper), Jean-Claude Risset (co-author with Pierce and Mathews of a computer music paper that drew objections), Billy Klüver (Bell Labs; his interviews with reporters were among the sources of difficulty), F. W. Sinden (co-author of the symposium talk "Movies from the Computer"), Mark N. Finston (reporter, The Star-Ledger), Henry R. Lieberman (reporter, The New York Times). Noted: Craig's memorandum is cited inconsistently: the body refers to a lengthy August 1965 document and to "Craig's infamous memorandum of September 9, 1965", while endnote 4 gives "Scope of BTL Basic Research, H. M. Craig, August 9, 1965" — with the initials H. M. rather than Howard C. The author's own Mondrian paper is cited with "Vol. 16. No. 1, (January 1966)" in the endnotes, whereas the body dates the clearance dispute to 1965. The Princeton repository is printed "Seely G. Mudd Manuscript Library".