Daily Digest 4/20/2021 (Walter Frederick Mondale)
A Global Tipping Point for Reining In Tech Has Arrived
A Global Tipping Point for Reining In Tech Has Arrived
Elon Musk’s internet satellite venture has spawned an unlikely alliance of competitors, regulators, and experts who say the billionaire is building a near-monopoly that is threatening space safety and the environment. The Starlink project, owned by Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
Around the world, governments are moving simultaneously to limit the power of tech companies with an urgency and breadth that no single industry had experienced before. Their motivation varies.
The Federal Communications Commission opened the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program to participating broadband providers for testing. This important milestone will allow these providers to familiarize themselves with the Program systems in anticipation of the impending consumer launch of the Program. As the agency continues to work to rapidly deliver much-needed relief to families across the country, I’m proud of the progress we’ve made in record time. I am thrilled that we have more than 600 providers now committed to the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program.
California’s 2018 net neutrality law, SB-822, recently went into effect and concerns have been already raised about the legality of “zero-rating,” the practice by which commercial arrangements and unilateral decisions by network operators are exempted from consumer pricing. Under California’s net neutrality law, zero-rating and sponsored data programs violate the new law because certain content cannot be excluded from consumer data caps, or usage-based pricing. Turner Lee offers the following recommendations to state and federal leaders:
California’s net neutrality law, which a federal district court upheld in February, is already wading into the regulatory morass that brought down past regulatory regimes charged with maintaining neutrality in rail transport and energy.
Secretary
Department of Transportation
Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency
Secretary
Department of Commerce
© 1994-2026 Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. All Rights Reserved.