Broadband Connectivity

This paper examines the emerging global phenomenon of mobile leapfrogging in Internet access. Leapfrogging refers to the process in which new Internet users are obtaining access by mobile devices and are skipping the traditional means of access: personal computers. This leapfrogging of PC-based Internet access has been hailed in many quarters as an important means of rapidly and inexpensively reducing the gap in Internet access between developed and developing nations, thereby reducing the need for policy interventions to address this persistent digital divide.

Marc Goldwein explains how Congress brokered the fiscal cliff deal, and warned of rocky terrain still ahead as legislators tackle across-the-board spending cuts and the debt ceiling. Danielle Kehl discusses the real reason that broadband providers implement data caps, and why anyone with a mobile device should care. Elizabeth Weingarten hosts.

Since 2009, the federal government has funded 232 Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) digital training and access projects nationwide. New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) is a partner on two of them, in Detroit and Philadelphia. As these programs draw to a close at the end of 2012, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners are taking stock of the impact and outcomes of one of the largest and most comprehensive digital inclusion efforts ever undertaken.

Remember how the Internet community stopped SOPA?

Come on out to Irish Whiskey this Thursday at 8pm for the official launch of the Internet Defense League (IDL), a network of people and organizations committed to defending the open Internet. The goal of IDL is to sound the alarm quickly to millions of users whenever the Internet is in peril.

Is it working? Evaluating and assessing broadband policy

A by-invitation experts’ workshop

New America Foundation

September 19-21, 2012

 

Freedom of Expression: Penalties for Controversial Content

In an effort to curb anti-government speech, China’s top microblogging site, Sina Weibo, implemented a points-based system that penalizes users for posting certain types of content. The site, which boasts over 300 million users, was in the news last month for censoring content on human rights activist Chen Guangcheng and has a record of complying with the Chinese government’s censorship demands.

How community focus and technology initiatives refresh our local churches, mosques and synagogues

The religious and spiritual institutions that currently anchor our neighborhoods and tie together our communities can provide us with another benefit - a chance to build and own our own communications infrastructure.

As federal and local authorities continue efforts to close the digital divide in the United States, innovative researchers are using new approaches to understand why some people “adopt” broadband—and why others choose to remain offline.

The U.S. Budget and Community WiFi are topics for discussion this week, as host Pamela Chan is joined by Preston Rhea and Jason Peuquet.