Los Angeles Times
The pandemic makes clear it’s time to treat the internet as a utility
The internet has grown into a utility, and internet access should be regulated as such. The position of the US government — not to mention phone and cable companies — is that the internet is a free-market service, full stop. It’s not a utility. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai says the internet industry merits only what he calls “light-touch” regulation, which is to say hardly any regulation at all. “The FCC’s light-touch approach is working,” Chairman Pai declared in 2019.
Facebook touts free speech. In Vietnam, it’s aiding in censorship (Los Angeles Times)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Thu, 10/22/2020 - 11:24Michael Hiltzik: Column: An antitrust case against Google is a good thing; but Trump’s involvement may not be (Los Angeles Times)
Submitted by benton on Tue, 10/20/2020 - 16:55Opinion: The New York Post puts Twitter and Facebook in a no-win position (Los Angeles Times)
Submitted by benton on Fri, 10/16/2020 - 06:52With Prop. 24, California is trying to rewrite the rules of online privacy. Again. (Los Angeles Times)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Thu, 10/15/2020 - 09:59Facebook, Twitter seek to keep Hunter Biden report from going viral amid disinformation crackdown (Los Angeles Times)
Submitted by Robbie McBeath on Wed, 10/14/2020 - 18:46Tech companies step up to bring free Wi-Fi to L.A. public housing residents
Nearly 9,000 residents of public housing in Los Angeles will receive free broadband internet access for the rest of the 2020-21 school year as part of a new partnership between the city, Microsoft, and the startup internet service provider Starry. Starting in early Nov, residents of the Jordan Downs, Nickerson Gardens and Imperial Courts housing projects in Watts and the Pueblo del Rio complex in Central Alameda will be able to sign up for the service. They join residents of the Mar Vista Gardens, who have had access since Aug. The new partnership comes as L.A.