The vast majority of farmers in the Midwest aren’t able to utilize “precision agriculture” GPS technology because they don’t get high-speed internet, according to Christopher Ali, assistant media studies professor at the University of Virginia. He said companies don’t want to put in fiber optic cable – considered the gold standard – because of its great expense. “There’s not enough customers on a farm, because there’s technically one customer on the farm – the farmer,” he said. “That doesn’t merit any of these companies coming out. The per-mile cost of laying the wires is the problem.” Ali said the US offers $6 billion in subsidies to telecommunications companies for the purpose of installing rural broadband, but the funds aren’t making their way out to the farms. To try to get to the bottom of the public policy issue that he believes has far-reaching consequences, Ali and his dog, Tuna, loaded up “Lima Bean” – Ali’s bright green Kia Soul – and drove to small farm towns in Kentucky, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Indiana. “Co-ops are the unsung heroes of rural broadband,” Ali said. “They don’t need the return on investment that the giant companies need because they don’t have shareholders to satisfy. They have community members to service. And I think because they don’t need a 20 percent profit margin, they’re able to take a few more risks. Wouldn’t it be great if public policy could help these co-ops leverage or mitigate some of the risk?”

The Cleveland Foundation just announced $488,000 in grants that encourage digital inclusion — a multi-faceted initiative to get everyone connected, “until we get to a point that the internet access is treated more like a utility, no different than electricity. Until it’s in every home,” said Leon Wilson, chief of digital innovation at the Cleveland Foundation. The first part of the initiative is a partnership with the Cleveland Public Library and Cuyahoga County Library systems. All 28 Cleveland Library branches and four Cuyahoga County Library branches will have 4G unlimited data hotspots available for free checkout for 21-day periods. The second part of the initiative is the arrival of PCs for People, a nonprofit based out of Minnesota with a second location in Denver (CO).

Erie's (PA) status as a smart city is poised to take on new meaning thanks to the National League of Cities, the Erie Innovation District and Velocity Network. The Innovation District, which now provides free Wi-Fi in Perry Square, is expected to develop a plan during 2019 to roll out free wireless internet that could eventually blanket the city of Erie, said Karl Sanchack, the organization's CEO. Sanchack said the impetus for that initiative came from a call from the National League of Cities, which represents 19,000 cities and towns across the United States. In partnership with the philanthropic organization Schmidt Futures, the league announced in June that it was creating a new program, City Innovation Ecosystems, which is dedicated to helping cities thrive in the modern economy.

The next generation of wireless technology, 5G, could be a huge deal. The speed — and the number of devices that can be connected — could spawn new businesses we haven't even thought of yet. It could mean $12 trillion in economic output across the world by 2035. And add some 22 million jobs. A  whiff  of that potential is why there's a race to get to 5G first between companies and countries. 

The application of antitrust policy, through which the government seeks to shape the general rules of competition, has always been contentious. But for roughly 40 years there has been a consensus that its ultimate goal should be the welfare of consumers, broadly defined to mean maximizing overall economic growth. Yet a small, but growing group of activists and scholars now argues we should abandon the consumer welfare standard and add in a host of new factors for antitrust policy to address, while also attacking “bigness” per se. A careful review, however, shows the consumer welfare standard is able to handle some of its critics’ legitimate concerns.

What should a new consumer privacy framework look like? Legislation must be simple to understand, targeted to consumers’ needs and today's digital reality, and national in scope so all Americans are equally protected. Verizon believes a consumer privacy bill should be bipartisan and focus on the following key principles:

1. Consistency. All entities, regardless of industry sector, that collect information about consumers should be subject to the same requirements. One set of rules, primarily enforced by a single Federal regulator – the Federal Trade Commission – will ensure consistent protections for consumers.
2. Flexibility. Statutory requirements governing ever-evolving technology need to be flexible so that they don’t become quickly outdated. The overall framework should be informed by the principle that the level of sensitivity of the personal information will dictate the corresponding protections. The FTC could have a role in providing guidance on statutory requirements, such as defining “personal information” and “sensitive personal information.”
3. Transparency. Companies must provide clear and easy to understand information about their practices with respect to the collection, use, and sharing of personal information. As part of transparency, companies should have a mechanism that provides consumers with reasonable access to what information the company has about that consumer.
4. Choice. Companies must provide consumers with the opportunity to opt in to the collection, use, and sharing of sensitive personal information and to opt out of the collection, use, and sharing of other personal information. Exceptions should be in place for the collection, use, and sharing of personal information for operational and other purposes (e.g., legal process).
5. Data Security and Breach Notification. Companies must put in place reasonable security measures to protect information and should notify consumers in appropriate circumstances when breaches occur.
6. Safe Harbor Programs. There should be a Safe Harbor program that companies can follow and know that they are meeting the requirements of the law.
7. Enforcement. The enforcement regime for privacy should be two-fold: (a) FTC enforcement with civil penalties (subject to a cap); and (b) State attorneys general enforcement of Federal law.

The rise of digital media labs and spaces for content creation in public libraries has been documented in the scholarly literature. However, fewer studies have investigated the outcomes of media literacy initiatives in community media centers (CMCs) and how they might inform similar programs and services in public libraries. This article reports findings from a study that used qualitative research to investigate the current goals and activities of CMCs across the United States. The findings show that the educational, social, and community benefits of these programs could be useful for public libraries to consider in developing or augmenting their own media literacy initiatives.

The term “fake news” has become a cudgel for political leaders trying to discredit reporting, but disinformation – false content created explicitly to deceive or misinform – runs rampant online. Politico is trying to identify and trace the origins of political disinformation and debunk it.