Editorial staff

Silicon Valley should be pleased with the Federal Communications Commission's new national broadband plan. Though it isn't perfect, the plan is far better than anything that came out under former President George W. Bush's FCC - and it recognizes that broadband is becoming as crucial to the American economy as electricity and telephones.

The National Broadband Plan that the Federal Communications Commission released Tuesday is ambitious in the right way, staking out such immodest national goals as building the most innovative and fastest wireless networks on the planet and vastly improving the wired infrastructure within a decade.

The national broadband plan for America argues that high-speed Internet service is as vital to America's economy as electric power. Everyone should have access to it. Everyone should be able to afford it. Why should Americans settle for less?

Health care isn't the only policy arena in which the Obama Administration aims to ram through controversial new rules. The Federal Communications Commission is set to unveil a "national broadband plan" opposed by industry and without any of the five commissioners voting on it.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is slightly off track in suggesting a ban on text-message lobbying during meetings of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors and city commissions.

What should the Federal Communications Commission's role in wider broadband adoption? Primarily, to encourage competition so that prices come down and service and speed improve.

The massive economic stimulus package that Congress passed last year included $7.2 billion to promote the spread of high-speed Internet connections in the United States. We can quibble over whether those funds helped stimulate the economy -- it took almost a year for the federal government to approve the first grant requests -- but not about the long-term value of the investment.

In the annals of judicial folly, a place of honor ought to be reserved for this week's conviction of three Google executives by an Italian court.

Does the nature of Internet searching itself have an anti-competitive effect on other markets?

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