LA City Fiber, Request For Proposals (RFP)

Late last year, in November 2013, LA City Council officially requested that the Information Technology Administration (ITA) department issue a Request For Proposals (RFP) for an open access fiber network installation, along with the provision of free low bandwidth wireless Continue reading LA City Fiber, Request For Proposals (RFP)

Should we change our name?

I personally apologize for not keeping this site up to date. A lot has been going on in my work and personal life that has kept me away. I was recently happy to see more people have filled out our Continue reading Should we change our name?

An open letter to Level3: Put up or shut up!

To Level3 Communications: Congratulations on becoming the new Content Distribution Network (CDN) provider of choice for Netflix! Netflix provides a valuable and convenient online video delivery service that we all enjoy. Unfortunately, cable companies (like Comcast) all have a vested interest Continue reading An open letter to Level3: Put up or shut up!

A new vision for the Internet, Part 1.

It is difficult to convey how I think the Internet should change, without some basis of comparison. Instead of explaining all the small incremental changes that I think should happen, I’ll tell you some short(ish) stories instead. These stories are about people who live in the new world we can create together, a few years into the future. These stories are not intended to be apocryphal or utopian in any way — just normal people dealing with common life changes. This is the story of Marie’s big move.
Continue reading A new vision for the Internet, Part 1.

Breaking the Broadband Monopoly

The legal and political field of broadband has been changing too rapidly for me to keep up with lately. In case you didn’t hear, the FCC has declared Title II reclassification of Internet services as a “third way” approach, because they’re going to use forebearance to avoid enforcing many of the key provisions, including those that would lead to open access requirements. I’m not happy about that, but it would take longer to explain than I have at the moment. Watch for an upcoming post on that issue and Network Neutrality in general.

For now, I want to direct you to an excellent study at the MuniNetworks.org site titled “Breaking the Broadband Monopoly.” I haven’t even read it all yet, so I’m copying the official press release here. Be sure to download it and read it for yourself at the original page. http://www.muninetworks.org/reports/breaking-broadband-monopoly Continue reading Breaking the Broadband Monopoly

Connecting Local Institutions

The FCC’s National Broadband Plan (NBP) is here, and it’s a big disappointment. While adding to the body of evidence that Internet access competition is poor to nonexistent in America, they still manage to praise do-nothing incumbents for offering any Continue reading Connecting Local Institutions

The Economics of Sharing

I. The benefits of sharing. On the Internet, sharing is a solved problem. The Tier-1 backbone providers all save time and money for their international bandwidth via “peering agreements” — contracts that say network traffic will be freely exchanged between Continue reading The Economics of Sharing

Of course people care about Internet access.

Ars Technica posted an article today entitled “The poor don’t care about broadband? Of course they do.” The article references a recent study published by the Social Science Research Council. The study partially refutes some findings made in earlier studies by the the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Pew’s Internet & American Life Project, which suggested that two thirds of those Americans that’s don’t have broadband now don’t want it, and about a third of US residents never use the Internet. Continue reading Of course people care about Internet access.

The right to own Internet connections

In the 21st Century, the Internet is the most important tool we all have for our freedom of speech. So it’s important to answer the question: who really owns the Internet? Continue reading The right to own Internet connections