1. Monthly archive
  2. June 2020

June 2020

Appointment of Michael Pack as CEO of US Agency for Global Media has put internet freedom projects in crisis mode

One of the US government’s strongest forces for internet freedom is in danger, and supporters are calling on the public for help. The Open Technology Fund (OTF), a small US organization devoted to protecting digital speech across the world, has helped support nearly all of the most prominent encryption projects at various points — including Signal, Tails, Qubes, and the Tor Project. But after the abrupt firing of the fund’s entire leadership team, current recipients say their contractually promised funding is now at risk.

Unequally disconnected: Access to online learning in the US

A new weekly Household Pulse Survey from the US Census Bureau offers a rich opportunity to quantify the impact of COVID-19 on children’s education during this time. It includes questions about the availability of digital devices and the internet in homes across the US, which allow us to explore the concern that access to distance learning is out of the reach of many of the most vulnerable students. Based on four weeks of data, our findings are bleak:

Sponsor 

Federal Communications Commission

Date 
Wed, 07/29/2020 - 16:00

At this meeting, the BDAC will hear reports from the Increasing Broadband Investment in low-income Communities, Broadband Infrastructure Deployment Job Skills and Training Opportunities, and Disaster Response and Recovery working groups.

This agenda may be modified at the discretion of the BDAC Chair and the Designated Federal Officer (DFO).

This meeting is being held via conference call and available to the public via the Internet at http://www.fcc.gov/live


End of broadband pledge could cut lifelines for families

Internet service providers' pledges to waive fees and forgive missed payments end on June 30, likely cutting off service for some families who can't pay their bills due to the economic impact of the pandemic. Congress hasn't included funding to pay for broadband bills in its previous COVID-19 packages.

These Young Entrepreneurs Have A Plan To Bring The Internet To Detroit, The Least Connected City In America

So what if we treated the Internet like a public utility, as essential and ubiquitous as electricity or water, and piloted this in Detroit?  A team of Forbes Under 30 alumni hacked at this problem; their idea: Connectivity For All, a three-step pilot program that would be a public-private partnership to create a quick-to-implement, self-sustaining system to bridge the digital divide. The team quickly realized that parts of their solution had already been figured out by local organizations — the biggest issue was funding. With that in mind, the team dreamed up of tech hubs — physical communi

Senators Introduce Bill to Accelerate Deployment of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Broadband Networks

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS), Sen Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), and Sen Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced the Accelerating Broadband Connectivity (ABC) Act of 2020. This legislation would expedite the deployment of broadband service by creating a fund to be used by the Federal Communications Commission to incentivize winning bidders of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction to complete their buildout obligations on a shorter timeline. The Accelerating Broadband Connectivity Act would:

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