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December 2015

The Land That the Internet Era Forgot

Roberto Gallardo is affiliated with something called the Extension Service.Its original purpose was to disseminate the latest agricultural know-how to all the homesteads scattered across the interior. State extension services still do all this, but Gallardo’s mission is a bit of an update. Rather than teach modern techniques of crop rotation, his job -- as an extension professor at Mississippi State University -- is to drive around the state in his silver 2013 Nissan Sentra and teach rural Mississippians the value of the Internet.

The issues of digital literacy, access, and isolation are especially pronounced here in the Magnolia State. Mississippi today ranks around the bottom of nearly every national tally of health and economic well-being. It has the lowest median household income and the highest rate of child mortality. It also ranks last in high-speed household Internet access. In human terms, that means more than a million Mississippians -- over a third of the state’s population -- lack access to fast wired broadband at home. Gallardo doesn’t talk much about race or history, but that’s the broader context for his work in a state whose population has the largest percentage of African-Americans (38 percent) of any in the union. The most Gallardo will say on the subject is that he sees the Internet as a natural way to level out some of the persistent inequalities -- between black and white, urban and rural -- that threaten to turn parts of Mississippi into places of exile, left further and further behind the rest of the country.
[This story was originally published on Nov 7]

Where do ads shaping state politics come from? Increasingly, these outside players

[Commentary] National political groups are bigfooting their way into state elections through ad campaigns, part of a growing trend in which groups independent from candidates or parties are taking a larger role in shaping the narratives of political campaigns. In total, 33 outside groups poured more than $32 million into their own political ads in 2015, accounting for more than one-third of the estimated $86 million in broadcast TV ad spending in the seven states with major races. That represents more than 1 in 4 political spots aired, compared with fewer than 1 in 5 ads in both 2011 when the same states had comparable races and in 2014 when major races occurred in 45 states.

The US Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling and other related cases opened the door for such increased power of outside groups by ruling that nonprofits, corporations and labor unions could spend unlimited sums to persuade people to vote for certain candidates. This is also helping drive up the bill for political campaigning. In 2015, political advertisers upped their game, largely due to heated governors’ races in Louisiana and Kentucky. The combination of candidates, parties and independent groups overall spent approximately $50 million more on TV ads than political advertisers spent in 2011

Technology companies troubleshoot local regulations

2015 has seen many instances of technology companies expanding rapidly into new markets only to later face legal challenges. Rather than see regulations as a barrier to some business activity, it is instructive to consider why they exist in the first place. Regulations designed to promote competition or protect consumers are just as important as the services being offered by companies. It’s often the case that regulations can be improved to accommodate new business models instead of completely scrapped for being outdated.

A company’s customer is also a regulator’s constituent, so the goals of convenience must go hand in hand with protection. Just as technology companies can appreciate the function that regulators perform, regulators can also glean insight from the software testing model. Before rules go into effect, they should be scrutinized for potential implementation problems. The lifespan of a rule should also be considered: a constantly shifting set of rules would be just as onerous as one that did not change at all. After an appropriate period of time has passed, regulators should revisit and adjust rules to fit changing market conditions. Rather than see themselves in conflict, technology companies and regulators can teach each other something about delivering convenience, competition, and customer protections.

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