If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
It is both the best of times and the worst of times for the Internet. It's also the best and worst of times for the freedoms the Internet is supposed to nurture.
Genachowski's failure to re-establish the FCC's authority over broadband was his most significant policy blunder -- and the defining moment of his tenure. Even on matters that should have been easy lifts, Genachowski found a way to buckle.
Municipal broadband networks have been gaining traction across the country. It's easy to see why: In many rural and low-income communities, privately offered broadband services are nonexistent.
In the ceaseless debate about whether information yearns to be "free" on the Internet, it seems to me that one important fact is overlooked.
We have a long way to go to get public WiFi for all, but it's vital that we get to work right now. To promote affordable WiFi options, the FCC has to follow through and increase the amount of spectrum that is available for open networks.
As our Internet grows up, we need to look to the future and figure out ways to make it better. There is a role for activism and advocacy, but also one for our government to promote the public interest by ensuring that every American can participate in a free and fair communications market.
An open and free Internet does not mean the end of business or the end of new ideas. But we desperately need our laws to catch up in order to foster, not stall, the innovation that will power our evolving modern economy.
What's really emerging from Dubai is the growing discomfort governments and corporations have with the popular Internet freedom movement. It's a movement of people who seek to determine their own digital destiny.
Net Neutrality only became an issue once the phone and cable companies got the government to protect their businesses from competition by blocking who could use the wires.
Many governments are quietly infringing upon Internet freedom and accessing private online correspondence and browsing records. But steps can be taken to curb some of these abuses.
Political parties are in the process of adopting what they call Internet Freedom principles. Most of both parties' platforms include really good stuff, with one snag, regarding "net neutrality."
While the conventions and the two men who would be president have been uppermost in our minds for the past two weeks, we should not lose sight of other critical races going on across the country, in particular those in the House of Representatives.
Internet Freedom in this case is actually freedom for AT&T and the other phone companies, not freedom for those who actually use telecommunications or even Internet services.
Today, all of our telecommunications companies brought Republican lawmakers and candidates to Tropicana Field for batting practice. Come January, these are the guys who are going to take a bat to Net Neutrality once in for all, so it'll be a home run for us!
For the connection speeds Americans will need to work, study, build the next great company or just watch the next great movie online, more than 75 percent of us will have just one choice: the local cable monopolist.
To use your phone to make video telephone calls, which could reduce the amount of voice minutes you need to buy from AT&T, you'll first need to pay AT&T more money for less data and unlimited voice minutes. What if you actually need more data? Get out your wallet, sucker.
