Start... doing your damned job and put the criminal gangs, and their paymasters (who might turn out to be the leaders of certain 3-letter US government agencies) out of business. Millions of taxpayers' private records lost in the last decade with crippling financial consequences for some, and you've got the nerve to whine about encryption? You know, on second thought, why don't you just look for another job?
... should probably be the #1 issue for most people. Unfortunately, local government ownership and development is probably not the answer anyway. Local government has proved to often be just as corrupt as the incumbent ISPs and their friends in state legislatures. What we really need are nonprofit consumer-owner cooperatives that have access to Internet POPs guaranteed by law. That's a tall order, of course, because to make it work you need to organize consumers at the local level and to have them engaged with an intensity and in numbers that haven't been seen since the days of the bucket brigades and New England town meetings. The situation isn't hopeless, but it is pretty bleak. Here in NC I think there was only one municipal ISP in operation, Greenlight in Wilson, before the legislature cut off further efforts with a law similar to the one discussed above. Greenlight has enjoyed a good reputation over the years, and shows how municipal broadband could be done right. But I'm not so sure it would work as well in cities where political machines still run the show.
"AT&T, Verizon and the current FCC will tell you that mobile broadband is a perfect substitution for quality fixed-line broadband. And while that might be true by 2030 or so..."
That will NEVER be true. It's a bold-faced lie only convincing to the technologically ignorant and those whose living depends on them being convinced. Pai is either deceiving or self-deceived on the subject.
If we're going to require market solutions here we have to ensure a competitive market, otherwise treat these monopoly incumbents as common carriers and force them to open up access to their infrastructure to competitors on an equal footing with their own business. Providing funding for the development of municipal and non-profit community-based broadband, as well as pre-empting local anti-competitive laws like those in force in North Carolina is another (and I think, preferable) option.
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Re: With 'friends' like these...
One more for your list:
Start... doing your damned job and put the criminal gangs, and their paymasters (who might turn out to be the leaders of certain 3-letter US government agencies) out of business. Millions of taxpayers' private records lost in the last decade with crippling financial consequences for some, and you've got the nerve to whine about encryption? You know, on second thought, why don't you just look for another job?
Broadband by and for the community
... should probably be the #1 issue for most people. Unfortunately, local government ownership and development is probably not the answer anyway. Local government has proved to often be just as corrupt as the incumbent ISPs and their friends in state legislatures. What we really need are nonprofit consumer-owner cooperatives that have access to Internet POPs guaranteed by law. That's a tall order, of course, because to make it work you need to organize consumers at the local level and to have them engaged with an intensity and in numbers that haven't been seen since the days of the bucket brigades and New England town meetings. The situation isn't hopeless, but it is pretty bleak. Here in NC I think there was only one municipal ISP in operation, Greenlight in Wilson, before the legislature cut off further efforts with a law similar to the one discussed above. Greenlight has enjoyed a good reputation over the years, and shows how municipal broadband could be done right. But I'm not so sure it would work as well in cities where political machines still run the show.
The Big Lie
"AT&T, Verizon and the current FCC will tell you that mobile broadband is a perfect substitution for quality fixed-line broadband. And while that might be true by 2030 or so..."
That will NEVER be true. It's a bold-faced lie only convincing to the technologically ignorant and those whose living depends on them being convinced. Pai is either deceiving or self-deceived on the subject.
If we're going to require market solutions here we have to ensure a competitive market, otherwise treat these monopoly incumbents as common carriers and force them to open up access to their infrastructure to competitors on an equal footing with their own business. Providing funding for the development of municipal and non-profit community-based broadband, as well as pre-empting local anti-competitive laws like those in force in North Carolina is another (and I think, preferable) option.