gdn: Internet should be un-privatized and made a public utility. Here is why—
“…the biggest problem facing municipal Internet services…the cable companies. When Chattanooga first started planning its municipal network, Comcast sued, saying the service amounted to unfair competition for the company. It lost the suit, but Comcast and other companies have spent millions of dollars on ad campaigns and donations to local politicians in the hope that municipal providers don’t expand more than they already have. The company has a history of supporting politicians opposed to public Internet service and lobbying state legislatures to pass legislation that prevents cities and towns from offering their services outside of their municipal boundaries. Eighteen states now have anti-expansion laws on the books.”
Chattanooga Was a Typical Postindustrial City. Then It Began Offering Municipal Broadband.
By Peter Moskowitz at The Nation website.
(gdn: For full article--copy & paste to search that, which follows—the word “Source” and ends with “Moskowitz”)
“…the biggest problem facing municipal Internet services…the cable companies. When Chattanooga first started planning its municipal network, Comcast sued, saying the service amounted to unfair competition for the company. It lost the suit, but Comcast and other companies have spent millions of dollars on ad campaigns and donations to local politicians in the hope that municipal providers don’t expand more than they already have. The company has a history of supporting politicians opposed to public Internet service and lobbying state legislatures to pass legislation that prevents cities and towns from offering their services outside of their municipal boundaries. Eighteen states now have anti-expansion laws on the books.”
Chattanooga Was a Typical Postindustrial City. Then It Began Offering Municipal Broadband.
By Peter Moskowitz at The Nation website.
(gdn: For full article--copy & paste to search that, which follows—the word “Source” and ends with “Moskowitz”)