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Archive for the ‘broadband’


UK’s Digital Economy bill and libraries don’t mix

Published June 2nd, 2010 in broadband, internet rights, telecommunications policy | No Comments »

Ars Technica writes about UK’s Digital Economy bill “3 strikes” rules. The author writes:

ISPs must log copyright infringement warnings, rightsholders can sue when anyone picks up three warnings within a year, rightsholders must prove they use a solid process to uncover violations, ISPs must prove they can properly match IP addresses to names, and there’s an appeals process.

But the articles asks “who counts as an ISP?” Apparently libraries offering Internet access (including WiFi), could fall into this category. Which means that libraries could be held accountable for the Internet activities of their patrons. Ofcom, the telecommunications regulator in Britain, says:

Those who wish to continue to enable others to access their service will need to consider whether [to] take steps to protect their networks against use for infringement, to avoid the consequences that may follow

This could mean that libraries (and other similar small ISPs, such as coffee shops) will have to start gathering information such as name, email or addresses of patrons before they use the Internet. Ofcom has indicated that small ISPs (libraries, etc.) will not be subject to the law at first. But this may change in the future, and libraries could be disconnected from the Internet if there are repeat offenders using their network.

Delivering broadband to city’s poor

Published April 1st, 2010 in Community, broadband, open access | No Comments »

Another great article by Nate Anderson over at ars technica. He writes about an initiative by Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University to bridge the digital divide. The University is rolling out 1Gbps fibre to homes around campus. That area of Cleveland is among the poorest neighborhoods, with apparently 72% of homes without Internet. According to Case University, “[o]n a national scale, neighbors of the University have as much Internet access as Panamanians or Vietnamese.”

You can also read more about it on Case’s VP for Information Technology Services blog.

The initiative will be free to the community, as the University is using it as a research opportunity to see if large broadband can bring about new uses for the Internet, such as “public safety, more educational opportunities, and better medicine.” This initiative also fits nicely with the FCC’s new broadband plan in which Goal 4 states the following:

Every community should have affordable access to at least 1 Gbps broadband service to anchor institutions such as schools, hospitals and government buildings.