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CNET: Millions of Americans can’t get broadband because of a faulty FCC map. There’s a fix.

The faulty Federal Communications Commission national broadband map has essentially made millions of Americans without fast internet "invisible," as Microsoft put it, and unless the data improve, they're likely to remain so. But there's reason to be hopeful. Thanks to $65 million in funding from Congress in Dec, the FCC now…

Posted on February 19, 2021February 25, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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CNET: Biden DOJ drops Trump-era lawsuit to block California net neutrality law

The US Department of Justice under President Joe Biden has dropped a department lawsuit filed under former President Donald Trump that challenged California's net neutrality rules. California's law, considered more strict than federal rules adopted during the Obama administration, could set the baseline for future federal rules. The DOJ formally…

Posted on February 9, 2021February 10, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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Marketplace: To undo Trump’s net neutrality policy, the Biden admin drops a lawsuit

In today’s installment of “Elections Have Consequences,” the Biden administration has turned its attention to net neutrality. Specifically, to undoing one of the Trump administration’s net neutrality policies by withdrawing from a lawsuit to overturn California’s internet regulations. As a refresher, the net neutrality debate is about whether internet service…

Posted on February 9, 2021February 10, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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Washington Post: Lacking a Lifeline: How a federal effort to help low-income Americans pay their phone bills failed amid the pandemic.

The coronavirus has reinforced the Internet as the fabric of modern American life, a luxury-turned-necessity for a generation now forced to work, learn and communicate primarily through the Web. But it also has laid bare the country’s inequalities — and the role Washington has played in exacerbating these long-known divides.…

Posted on February 9, 2021February 25, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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Toronto Star: Toronto just approved a wild plan to build a public internet network priced lower than Bell or Rogers – will it work?

Maize Blanchard pays Bell Canada $198.76 every month. She can easily tell you the precise figure — slowly emphasizing each number — because she has spent hours on the phone with the company trying to negotiate a lower price for her television and internet service. Blanchard, who is 69 and…

Posted on February 5, 2021February 10, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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CNN: COVID-19 vaccine rollout puts a spotlight on unequal internet access

In January 2020, members of Congress held a hearing to discuss the importance of digital literacy and closing the digital divide, or who has access to broadband internet and who doesn't. Just weeks later, the coronavirus began sweeping across the country and upending the lives of many Americans. In so…

Posted on February 4, 2021February 10, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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Vox: Biden’s FCC takes its first steps toward making the internet affordable

President Joe Biden’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) isn’t wasting any time trying to get low-income families online. Under acting Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, the FCC is moving to expand a broadband services discount program to cover remote schooling. And at least one company, possibly hoping to get into the new FCC’s good…

Posted on February 3, 2021February 3, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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MIT Technology Review: Getting vaccinated is hard. It’s even harder without the internet.

For as long as the internet has existed, there has been a divide between those who have it and those who do not, with increasingly high stakes for people stuck on the wrong side of America’s “persistent digital divide.” That’s one reason why, from the earliest days of his presidential…

Posted on February 3, 2021February 10, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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Washington Examiner: Liberals aim to restore net neutrality rules and go much further

Liberals are pressuring Democrats newly in power to pass net neutrality legislation, push for state-level internet regulations, and reinstate Obama-era Federal Communications Commission rules — the last of which they say is only a matter of time. Net neutrality is the principle that internet service providers should treat all data…

Posted on February 3, 2021February 4, 2021 by Kip Roderick

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Bloomberg: Comcast Delays Web-Use Fees for Northeast U.S. After Outcry

Comcast Corp. will delay a new fee on heavy internet users in the Northeastern U.S. following criticism of plans to expand the controversial strategy during the pandemic. Comcast intended to impose extra fees for heavy internet use on customers in about a dozen markets starting in May, including New York, New…