Posted on 04/06/2009 6:59:36 AM PDT by reaganaut1
Cable and telephone companies are gearing up for a fight as regulators begin work Wednesday on a national broadband strategy that could bring major changes to how Internet services are delivered to American homes.
The $787 billion government stimulus package requires the Federal Communications Commission to provide a road map for how potentially billions of future taxpayer dollars should be spent to build or upgrade Internet lines across the U.S.
The agency will map out how the U.S. can ensure that every American not only has access to broadband, but has service that runs much faster than what's available today. It will also look at how to update policies that haven't kept pace with the way Americans get phone, cable-TV and Internet services in their homes.
Implicit in the review is that the federal government plans to invest more money in broadband infrastructure than the $7.2 billion promised through the economic-stimulus plan. Rules for how companies can apply for those stimulus funds are expected in the next month or so.
The broader infrastructure plan is "the biggest responsibility given to the FCC since the Telecom Act of 1996," acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps, said in an interview. "The market has done a lot, but it hasn't done enough to keep us competitive in the world."
The FCC plans to delve into issues ranging from how to define faster, next-generation broadband to what sort of rules should be applied to guarantee delivery of Internet traffic. It will examine competition between Internet-service providers and what can be done to provide incentives for building broadband infrastructure, FCC officials said.
The FCC is required to turn in its plan next February, and will begin Wednesday by opening up the issue for comment.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
We don't need to "compete" with other countries using tax money to have the highest rates of Internet access (or college graduates), but Obama thinks of the market merely as a tool to accomplish goals that he sets, such as reducing CO2 emissions.
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“The market has done a lot, but it hasn’t done enough to keep us competitive in the world.”
B.S.
The U.S. is FAR above what the other countries have and is making headway on it’s own.
More ‘nanny’ crap so the government has a reason to reach further into our pockets.
It’s for the children.
just have to read between the lines.
Its next to the clause guaranteeing digital TV reception...
This is pure crapola!! All it does is lay the foundations for taxing Internet services and access.
FWIW, I think we should tell the feds not onlt "No!", but "H@LL NO!!!"
Yeh, it's in that 'penumbra' thingy.
Yep, not nearly enough children of irresponsible parents have been subjected to the porn machine on the internet. They must have access to the net so that they can be enlightened.
Fixed
Per Clark Howard (self labeled consumer advocate, but a pretty well informed guy nontheless), the U.S. has very expensive prices for internet access compared to others, and generally slower speeds, much slower when compared to some other contries.
Having said that, I’m not optimistic about having the Gov’t get even further involved. I fully expect to read a Gov’t press release a couple of years down the road announcing a new 24K dial-up modem that only took a few billion of taxpayer’s dollars to perfect.
If the government builds the Internet, the government will control the Internet.
I don’t think they can stand the free exchange of ideas that happens now - if they control it, they control you...
Swell. That should be a great help, as are all government run programs. Think of the raging success the Post Office has been over the past.
I’m amazed that ‘the market’ has no say any longer.
Are they going to provide free computers and TV’s as well — why not fully equip every shack in America?
We better get our act together for 2010 and throw out the bums in Congress that are going along with this trash!
More great government improving our lives with more great ideas that rarely succeed as advertised..
Not entirely true.
We do have better technology BUT government intervention is what ‘slowed’ the internet down.
Back in the 90’s I gave a ‘56k’ modem to my brother in Australia and he was surprised when it would only do ‘52k’ because Australia allowed the full 56k on the internet.
The modems sold in this country were ‘locked’ to 52k per the FCC, and hence the ‘government’ to save ‘band width’.
I find it rather ironic that now that a ‘democrat’ is in the White House, it’s the ‘companies’ that are the bad guy’s here when they were ‘mandated’ to lock the baud rate and now are being required to ‘speed it up’ when they could have been all along.
The technology has been here long before the rest of the world got it.
It’s just ‘big brother’ that didn’t let it go speeding on it’s merry way.
The rest I totally agree with you on.
You didn't think that you could turn off the camera and microphone built into your computer or monitor simply by un-checking a box in a control panel ?I mean,REALLY!
Seriously,it is entire possible to have program code that allows you to "do" all kind of control functions in the dialog box or "control panel" whilst the program continues to function exactly as the programmers intended.I doubt many of those reading this could verify or check if your computer IS streaming audio or video back to the net even now.
Without either opaque lens covers or physical switches (not under software control) that open the electrical path ,you cannot be SURE you are not being snooped on.
Many people don't realize those wireless baby monitors and cameras can be heard and seen by someone next door with a receiving unit,and it isn't just baby's cries but mommy and daddy's voices or their images when in view of the camera ;same for the wireless security cameras.Probably the wireless webcam sitting there is quietly broadcasting pictures of you in your jammies (or worse) to anyone within range!I would be mightily surprised if the various police and security agencies don't have the hardware and software to monitor the wireless link from your router to your laptop elsewhere in the house or yard.
The old technique to gain control of something is that of “helping” it along, giving money, etc.
Tied to the “help” is CONTROL of it.
Tell them we don’t want or need their assistance.
I'm pretty sure the modem engineers would have pushed dial-up much faster if allowed;the ordinary modems use a narrow range of audio frequencies.From what I know of the electrical and audio limits it seems likely that dial-up modems could have been made to run up to 2 or 3 times faster if regulatory issues didn't over-ride engineering.
Oddly, the FCC seems little concerned over PROVEN high levels of interference to radio communications by the most common Broadband on Power Lines devices.;you might almost think the government didn't want people to be able to hear foreign broadcasts or ham or CB operators be able to communicate over long distances.
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