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I'm urging the @FCC to keep the internet open and free. Here's my plan to protect #NetNeutrality for everyone: http://go.wh.gov/net-neutrality –bo
4:20 AM - 10 Nov 2014 3,034 Retweets 1,374 favorites

I needed the laugh, Cha~

Superman~



Saving the internet! Hot Damn!

you who bring your spirits up when they need it.. like now!

FCC Republican wants to let states block municipal broadband

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler* is going to have a fight on his hands if he tries to preempt state laws that limit the growth of municipal broadband networks.

Matthew Berry, chief of staff to Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai, argued today that the FCC has no authority to invalidate state laws governing local broadband networks. In a speech in front of the National Conference of State Legislatures, Berry endorsed states' rights when it comes to either banning municipal broadband networks or preventing their growth. He also argued that the current commission, with its Democratic majority, should not do something that future Republican-led commissions might disagree with.

... Arguing that municipal broadband networks could discourage investment by private companies, Berry said, "It’s not hard, then, to imagine a future FCC concluding that taxpayer-funded, municipal broadband projects themselves are barriers to infrastructure investment. So if the current FCC were successful in preempting state and local laws under Section 706, what would stop a future FCC from using Section 706 to forbid states and localities from constructing any future broadband projects? Nothing that I can see."

Twenty states place at least some limits on the ability of cities and towns to offer Internet service to residents through laws passed as favors to cable companies and other ISPs. Wheeler argues that because Section 706 gives the FCC authority to promote competition in local telecommunications markets by removing barriers to investment, the commission can preempt laws that prevent cities and towns from creating their own broadband networks that compete against private companies. The Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the city of Wilson, North Carolina, which both say local laws prevent them from expanding Internet service to surrounding areas, have filed petitions asking the commission to do just that.

Read more:

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/08/fcc-republican-wants-to-let-states-block-municipal-broadband/

to Newsjock:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014875961

Chattanooga has the largest high-speed internet service in the US, offering customers access to speeds of 1 gigabit per second – about 50 times faster than the US average. The service, provided by municipally owned EPB, has sparked a tech boom in the city and attracted international attention. EPB is now petitioning the FCC to expand its territory. Comcast and other companies have previously sued unsuccessfully to stop EPB’s fibre optic roll out.

Wilson, a town of a little more than 49,000 people, launched Greenlight, its own service offering high-speed internet, after complaints about the cost and quality of Time Warner cable’s service. Time Warner lobbied the North Carolina senate to outlaw the service and similar municipal efforts.

USTelecom claims the FCC* has no legal standing over the proposed expansions and does not have the power to preempt the North Carolina and Tennessee statutes that would prevent them.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/aug/29/us-telecoms-fcc-block-high-speed-internet-chattanooga

An example has been in Chattanooga, TN, which resisted the big providers who denied affordable broadband, with help from Obama:

EPB’s high-speed network came about after it decided to set up a smart electric grid in order to cut power outages. EPB estimated it would take 10 years to build the system and raised a $170m through a municipal bond to pay for it. In 2009 president Barack Obama launched the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a stimulus programme aimed at getting the US economy back on track amid the devastation of the recession. EPB was awarded $111m to get its smart grid up and running. Less than three years later the whole service territory was built.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/30/chattanooga-gig-high-speed-internet-tech-boom

*Remember how many hateful media stories were out there dissing the FCC and Tom Wheeler on net neutrality, the price of broadband, and calling him a sell-out to corporations, because he worked for a company, broadbrushing Obama with the same charge?

The Idiocracy is very tiresome! Proving RF101 works just as intended.

There are other cities who have taken advantage of grants from the Obama Adminstration to give the people living there some of the cheapest BB in the world. Not just in TN.

Another story here:

to littlemissmartypants:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10695213

Not that this wasn't known before:

FCC Head to Revise Broadband-Rules Plan Agency Won't Let Firms Segregate Web Traffic Into Fast, Slow Lanes

By GAUTHAM NAGESH - May 11, 2014

See the whole article:

http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702303627504579556200630931292-lMyQjAxMTA0MDEwMTExNDEyWj

And the FCC has been working for us all along:

FCC adds $9 billion to broadband subsidy fund

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted Wednesday to shift US$9 billion over five years from traditional telephone subsidies to broadband subsidies, in an effort to bring high-speed Internet services to 5 million U.S. residents who don’t have access.

The FCC, as expected, voted on a proposal to shift $1.8 billion a year from the rural telephone subsidies in its Universal Service Fund to its broadband-focused Connect America Fund, amounting to a 70 percent increase in broadband deployment subsidies.

“Thanks to the Connect America Fund, we’ve taken a serious bite out of the lack of broadband access in America put ourselves on a path to remedying that,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said.

The FCC vote provides $1.8 billion a year, starting in 2015, to a broadband deployment fund where large carriers such as AT&T and Verizon Communications have the first shot at accepting the subsidies. If the large carriers turn down the subsidy, the FCC would conduct an auction to give the subsidy to other carriers.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2147360/fcc-adds-9-billion-to-broadband-subsidy-fund.html

to octoberlib:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024863635

Facing GOP obstruction for their many masters, Obama the corporate lackey has betrayed us again! You will never see a word of praise for the real work being done.

That's a great pic. Thank you.

Remember Jar Jar Bush?

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Love it, and thanks for the laugh!

I 'll see if I can find it elsewhere for you freshwest.

'THE Mountain' as it's known locally. Otherwise known as Mount Rainier. I can see Mount Rainier when I look south from my place. Going down the side street, I can see west to the Olympic peninsula mountain range. Going a bit down the street , I can see the Cascade range. They have snow year round.



That's just one river view. It's not as windy as predicted for this week, but we are getting lovely sunsets. I like it when all of those colors reflect off the snow on the foothills.



That's another view, it's fall and winter will soon be here, luckily this week's cold snap isn't as bad as predicted. It's sunny and cold, not snowing.



A young couple enjoying some time at the shore, appreciating the sunset and a new life to come.



And my beloved Washington State ferry system at work.

Thank you so much for sharing, freshwest.

Can't find the one in the OP. If I remember I will make a copy when I get back to work, and send it to you~ I am out of ink for my printer.

Yes, I certainly was able to enjoy your photo's very soothing, freshwest.

Located in China? Who knew?

but you get the jist of it freshwest, lol~

I see Mt. Rainier from my place but it's close to OR.

in response to a request of no "ties" ?

http://online.wsj.com/articles/photos-apec-fashion-through-the-years-1415651965

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/photo-essays/2014-11-10/no-president-rocks-apec-fashion-like-george-w-bush