Faced with the potential consequences of the federal Communications Commission's recent repeal of net neutrality, a report by the American Civil Liberties Union suggests that municipal internet as an antidote.
"The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has released a report encouraging local governments to provide public broadband to counteract the federal net neutrality repeal," reports Katie Pyzyk.
The report's value proposition for municipal internet includes references to privacy and net neutrality. On the former issue, municipal governments would have more oversight in protecting user privacy, and on the latter issue, municipal government can help maintain the democratic ideals of a free and open internet.
"The report suggests that a number of broadband investment options exist," according to Pyzyk. "A municipality can go "all in" and provide full internet service to each household, or it could require private telecom providers to respect free internet principles in order to use publicly owned assets such as pipes, tubes and other cable conduits."
FULL STORY: ACLU encourages city-owned public internet to protect net neutrality
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research