Obama Will Urge F.C.C. to Expand Local Broadband

Reposted from the New York Times:

President Obama on Wednesday will ask the Federal Communications Commission to pre-empt state laws that restrict communities’ ability to expand high-speed Internet access to underserved areas. He will make the announcement in Cedar Falls, Iowa, which has its own cable and high-speed data networks, including a one-gigabit broadband network that is 100 times as fast as the national average.

The initiative includes an effort by the Commerce Department to help communities with broadband infrastructure as well as loans and grants from the Agriculture Department to Internet providers in rural areas and the creation of an interagency council to speed up broadband deployment, White House officials said. The administration has also scheduled a meeting on broadband efforts for mayors and other local officials in June.

The moves are crucial to Mr. Obama’s plan to nurture innovation, the president’s advisers said, and keep the United States competitive with other nations that have faster and more widespread Internet connections. “Clearly, Americans want and need better, faster broadband because so much of our day-to-day lives and so many of the jobs we want to create depend on access,” said Jeffrey D. Zients, director of the National Economic Council. “High-speed broadband is central to maintaining our global advantage.”

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Companies Opposing Net Neutrality Conduct Internet Slowdown Protest Next Wed, Sept 10th

Reposted from Entrepreneur:

“On September 15, the Federal Communications Commission will stop taking public comments on its net neutrality proposal. The Open Internet Order would allow for the creation of Internet “fast lanes” to those with the ability to pay for them. Without net neutrality, the large cable companies and other ISPs would be free to provide multiple levels of service, and there is a concern that new ventures and up and coming entrepreneurs would be faced with a barrier to entry that they simply couldn’t afford to clear.

But on Wednesday, September 10, tech companies who oppose the proposal including Etsy, Kicktarter, Reddit, Foursquare and Mozilla will raise awareness about the issue through a protest called the Internet Slowdown. The day of action is being spearheaded by organizations like Fight for the Future, Free Press and Demand Progress.

Those participating in the protest will affix a widget that looks like a looping “site loading” icon — often referred to as the spinning wheel of death — onto their sites, provided by battleforthenet.com. The icons aren’t meant to slow down any of the sites, but to remind people of what the Internet could look without the protection of net neutrality.”

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