Commissioner Adelstein: Make broadband 'a higher priority'

COMMISSIONER ADELSTEIN: MAKE BROADBAND 'A HIGHER PRIORITY'
[SOURCE: Scripps Newspaper Group, AUTHOR: John Aguilar]
Make high-speed, bandwidth-heavy Internet connections available to as many Americans as possible and get it done yesterday. That was the message from two top federal regulators at a Silicon Flatirons Center for Law conference. "Broadband needs to be a higher priority than it is," Federal Communications Commission member Jonathan Adelstein told an audience gathered at the University of Colorado law school Sunday morning. "The bad news is that the United States has fallen behind other countries that have taken this on as a national priority." He said if this country wants to retain its technological pre-eminence in the world, it needs to get behind a national policy that emphasizes ubiquitous, low-cost broadband connectivity. That may include providing government incentives or sponsoring aggressive legislation, Commissioner Adelstein said. Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Jon Leibowitz said any broadband initiatives will have to come to grips with the contentious issues of online privacy and net neutrality, a movement that encourages absolute freedom for online content.
http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/11/commissioner-make-broadband-a-higher-priority/