The Connect Illinois program launched in 2019, pairing the then-largest state matching grant program for broadband expansion -- the $400 million Connect Illinois Broadband Grant Program - - with an appropriately ambitious commitment to digital equity and inclusion. The investment also included $20 million to enable the existing 2,100-mile Illinois Century Network to provide all school districts in the state with access to free gigabit broadband.
US Ignite invited Gigi Sohn, Distinguished Fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and a Benton Senior Fellow & Public Advocate, to brief leaders of US Ignite Communities on the Infrastructure Bill.
Reps Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Chair and Ranking Member of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced legislation to combat the online sale of stolen, counterfeit, and dangerous consumer products.
Rep Brett Guthrie (KY-02) introduced the Simplifying Management, Reallocation, and Transfer of Spectrum Act, or SMART Spectrum Act (H.R.5486). The SMART Spectrum Act would create an information sharing capability at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to allow more commercial use of spectrum licensed for federal government use. The federal government is currently not fully utilizing all of the spectrum licenses that are allocated for federal use.
At the dawn of Web 1.0 policymakers nearly quashed the Internet with legislation such as the Communications Decency Act and key escrow. Many policy experts fear the same cycle has begun at the advent of Web 3.0. The clumsy cryptocurrency language in the Infrastructure Bill laid bare the lack of policymaker awareness of the broader "Web3" ecosystem.
Experts draw parallels between mistakes made in the 1990s and why policymakers must better understand the promise and potential of Web 3.0.
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