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Web/Tech

How the FCC could be like TSA: proposal to create an Internet fast lane

Using money to privilege convenience may be the American ethic. And it’s a far cry from the egalitarianism exemplified in “all men are created equal.” Look at the TSA and its “precheck” program, for example. With TSA precheck, you pay $85 and cough up your biometrics and an application for government review. If you don’t […]

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Tech & society

FCC Broadband Plan Shrivels Compared To New Hampshire

Last March, the FCC announced a national broadband plan with the goal of connecting ~85 percent of the US population to 100 Mbps high speed broadband by 2020. I just learned that New Hampshire is requiring that North Carolina-based FairPoint* (which paid $2.3 billion for Verizon’s New England land lines and internet service) is required […]

Categories
Web/Tech

Why The FCC Broadband Plan Underwhelms

Media reports of the FCC broadband plan (pdf) that was sent to Congress today were fawning. Almost all contain this quote from FCC Chair Julius Genacowski, which describes the plan to connect 100 million U.S. households (~85 percent) to 100 Mbps high speed broadband by 2020 as a 21st-century roadmap to spur economic growth and investment, […]