Aaron the Librarian

Came across a link to a post on SaveTheInternet.com which links to a report that debunks Telco-created myths about why U.S. Telcos cannot and should not be encouraged [forced if necessary, imho] to keep the U.S. Internet connections as fast as the very top countries of the world.  The U.S. has slipped in connectivity speed, from 4th in 2001 to 12th in 2006 to 15th in July 2007.  (insert telco whines: U.S. consumer-base too geographically dispersed, etc)In case you didn’t already know, policymakers (with encouragement of telco shills) tend to ignore the research and challenge the methodologies used to collect data or interpret research findings.  Having personally seen this in action (TNDF flashback, see background below) at the state-level, I can attest that though many times the accounts of lobbyists and their questionable practices seem shrill or unbelievable, they do happen pretty much as described.

We, the people, need to get on our elected representatives, appointed functionaries, and faceless bureaucrats respective cases and push for what is currently called “Net Neutrality” to avoid enabling the current duopoly (Telecommunications and Cable Companies) to charge for preferential internet-traffic delivery.  Legislation was afoot which would affect how U.S. consumers and service providers were charged for timely and speedy connections to Internet content and/or infrastructure.

SaveTheInternet is a coalition with occasionally strange bedfellows - just about every political stripe is represented in their full membership list.  If TNDF were still active today, we would likely be a part of the coalition.

[Background info referred to above]
One of the reasons I got involved with ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy (via the OITP Advisory Committee) was my prior experience with Telcos trying to put one over on consumers.  I am a co-founder of the Tennessee Digital Freedom Network (TNDF.net) which was active from April 2003 through late 2004.  TNDF, which sadly saw a significant decline in member activity after our success during the 2003 legislative session, was instrumental in derailing the S-DMCA attempt in Tennessee in 2003 and worked with several large partners in 2004, altering the language of the bill to be less intrusive and restrictive on the end-user.

OITP coordinated the grant (funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) for the Public Libraries and the Internet study, which is performed by the FSU Information Institute.   The study revealed that >98% of Public Libraries are now connected to the internet in some fashion; however, as this project has evolved, the questions this year turned more to the “quality” of the connection (i.e. how phat are libraries’ pipes) and how well do these pipes provide adequate access to libraries’ patrons/customers/users.  Long story short, many public libraries which are part of state-wide consortia or take advantage of E-Rate funding have okay-to-good connections, but many others have generic cable out-of-the-box connections (768kps - 1.5 MBps “Broadband”) and there are still libraries which can only get dialup access (<768kps).