These Detroit Residents Are Building Their Own Internet

BlackEnterprise.com ^ | 11/21/2017 | Sequoia Blodgett

[simpson96]

We’ve heard of a lot of systems created to keep the underrepresented population uninformed, but these Detroit residents aren’t going for it. Equitable Internet Initiative is a group of Detroit residents who are learning how to build autonomous, affordable, and high-speed WiFi networks to prevent what they are calling, “the creation of a digital class system,”(snip)

“We risk our human rights if we don’t take ownership and control over the internet in a way that is decentralized,” said Diana Nucera, director of the Detroit Community Technology Project. Nucera, also known as Mother Cyborg, believes her mission is to empower individuals and help them come to the realization of the potential of technology and she is doing that through the Equitable Internet Initiative.

“Detroit is one of the top five least connected cities in the United States,” says Nucera. “So what happens when you have a city that has 1,000 mbps and the people with the least [amount] of resources only have 10? I think that causes a huge problem as far as what you can do with access.”

Telecom companies won’t offer good service within these impoverished areas because they don’t see the value. In fact, they go as far as not even turning on their fibers to create the connections, so the Equitable Internet Initiative has purchased gigabyte fiber that they’ve connected to routers and pointed them to their community centers, allowing WiFi access, according to the Vice documentary.

“We need to build our own infrastructure and rethink internet service providing and access in order to reach those people who have been traditionally left out and marginalized,” said Nucera. “The work that we’ve been doing is not just about access, it’s about building a healthy digital ecosystem.”

[jdsteel]

Building their own internet??? Not even close. Providing WiFi is not “creating an internet”.

[Quality_Not_Quantity]

Looks like a nice secure location to install infrastructure. I’m sure the equipment will be safe there

Probably safer than the water closet Hillary's server was kept in (or was it the DNC's? - but I repeat myself...).

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I think this is actually a very good idea. Not just for them, but for many communities around the US.

The most important part is that it does not have a direct connection to the Internet, but is in fact an *Intranet*. While there will be Internet connectivity as well, it will be on different systems, so there is a clean break between it and the Intranet.

Such Intranets can be much more secure, so surveillance by governments and corporations is minimized. (The voyeurs DO NOT like this, so would quickly scream that it is or will be used by “drug dealers and pedophiles”. Nonsense. Privacy is not, nor should be, a crime.)

Local information. No advertisements. Personal information can be exchanged. And so much more.

[MortMan]

It will not belong before they are forced to monetize the service (pay by customers or ads). Unless one of their benefactors has bottomless pockets...

(That would normally mean tax money, BTW...)

[Pollard]

10 Mbps DSL is what we have and we can watch streaming tv while 2-3 people surf the web. The fastest available here is 15Mbps. They run fiber optic cable wherever they put in new service but they said it will be decades before they ever make the switch.

[enduserindy]

Nuanced is on my trigger list these days too.

[enduserindy]

I’d trade my 1gps satellite internet for 10 mbs dsl any day of the week. It’s the ping that kills you.

[minnesota_bound]

“We risk our human rights if we don’t take ownership and control over the internet in a way that is decentralized,” said Diana Nucera, director of the Detroit Community Technology Project. Nucera, also known as Mother Cyborg

This just does not make sense.
Human rights, take ownership and control then decentralized, cyborg

[Billthedrill]

10 mbps is definitely a first-world problem. Half of the time I’m struggling along at 600 kbps out here in the country. It’s probably racism.

[catnipman]

i looked at their website; as far as i can tell this is fundamentally a grant scam so five “employees” can suck off the government teat:

http://detroitcommunitytech.org/?q=us

1. Director

2. IT Coordinator

3. Data Justice Community Researcher (whatever the hell that is)

4. Web Designer (probably the most important employee)

5. Equitable Internet Initiative Program Coordinator

They make claims of having directed 19 “community intranets”, but don’t have a list of them, or how large an area each spans (couple of floors of an apartment complex?), or how many routers/switches/access points in each “intranet” (one each?), or how many clients are served by each “intranet” (3-4 apartments?).