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San Francisco: Building Community Broadband to Protect Net Neutrality and Online Privacy
Like many cities around the country, San Francisco is considering an investment in community broadband infrastructure: high-speed fiber that would make Internet access cheaper and better for city residents. Community broadband can help alleviate a number of issues with Internet access that we see all over America today. Many Americans have no choice of provider for high-speed Internet, Congress eliminated user privacy protections in 2017, and the FCC decided to roll back net neutrality protections in December.
This week, San Francisco published the recommendations of a group of experts, including EFF's Kit Walsh, regarding how to protect the privacy and speech of those using community broadband.
This week, the Blue Ribbon Panel on Municipal Fiber released its third report, which tackles competition, security, privacy, net neutrality, and more. It recommends San Francisco's community broadband require net neutrality and privacy protections. Any ISP looking to use the city's infrastructure would have to adhere to certain standards. The model of community broadband that EFF favors is sometimes called "dark fiber" or "open access." In this model, the government invests in fiber infrastructure, then opens it up for private companies to compete as your ISP. This means the big incumbent ISPs can no longer block new competitors from offering you Internet service. San Francisco is pursuing the "open access" option, and is quite far along in its process.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Saturday February 24 2018, @06:28PM (19 children)
Like roads, perhaps even more importantly than roads, internet access should be universally provided to residents.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @06:31PM (16 children)
Even more important than roads? What the hell are you smoking? How do you expect your below minimum wage (plus tips) delivery driver to deliver your rich people toys to your giant mansion without roads?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @06:47PM (10 children)
Yes roads are important, but if you think the most people in SF are living large you've got another thing coming. If you want to get the high SF tech salary you'd better be comfortable paying $1100 for a single room in a 2br/1ba apartment. $1500+ for a tiny studio if you're lucky, more like $2k+ for decent yet still tiny studios.
Maybe you should travel, find out what the rest of the world is really like before you form such drastic opinions.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @06:55PM (4 children)
Why do you assume I'm not living in a big city and paying $1000 to rent a room? No, I don't live in SF. Maybe you should pull your fucking head out of your fucking ass and comprehend that SF isn't the only place in the world with a high cost of living, you fucking stupid elitist techbro.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @07:15PM (3 children)
Ah, so you're just an idiot with an axe to grind. Got it you slack jawed inbreeder.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @07:46PM (2 children)
You fucking stupid piece of shit, can't you even tailor your insults to your audience? We don't have slack jawed inbred redneck hicks here in the inner city urban ghetto.
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @08:53PM
Other AC didn't say anything about rednecks or hicks. There's plenty of inbreeding going on in the "inner city urban ghetto", as you've so graciously demonstrated. Well done!
Although, the phrase "inner city urban ghetto" seems to be a bit out of character for a denizen of such a place, but then there's the inbreeding. Ahhh....Carry on.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @11:52PM
Nah given your general anger I figured you are a child of British aristocracy throwing a fit cause you are finally old enough to understand how much you lost when we told you to fuck off. Now your trolling our superior websites like a whiny brat. Inbred was simply the most rational explanation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @10:09PM (4 children)
"If you want to get the high SF tech salary you'd better be comfortable paying $1100 for a single room in a 2br/1ba apartment. $1500+ for a tiny studio if you're lucky, more like $2k+ for decent yet still tiny studios."
Boo fucking hoo. Can't afford it? Move or shut the fuck up.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Thexalon on Saturday February 24 2018, @11:43PM (3 children)
For comparison's sake: There was someone talking about recruiting me to work in Silicon Valley for about 3 times what I was making in Ohio. That was enough to make me sit up and take notice ... until I started doing the math, and I realized that my quality of life was going to go down, my cost of living was going to go way up, and the bottom line would be at best no better. To give an idea of the difference, those tiny little studio apartments that are hard to get are double the rent of the comfortable 4-bedroom house I was living in, in a nice neighborhood with a lovely view of Lake Erie and the sound of waves crashing against the beach.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Geezer on Sunday February 25 2018, @12:01PM (2 children)
Shhhhh! Keep it quiet. Don't let on that many places in Ohio have good-paying jobs, affordable housing, and better ISP's than hip west-coast techbro hives. We'll get over-run by Starbucks-seeking hipsters. Especially don't mention the wild paw paws. Let them eat kale.
My totally uncool SuddenLink cable hookup way down here in Meigs County gives me better RTS gaming performance than anything I ever saw in California. Our cozy 3-bedroom 2-bath bungalow near the Ohio River was only $40K, and if I choose to do some part-time consulting from home there are plenty of companies around Columbus, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland that offer easy Pro From Dover gigs.
Don't Californicate Ohio!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 26 2018, @07:52PM (1 child)
We've got domesticated Paw Paws popping up here in California thanks to a broad network of specialist seed growing, cutting sharing plant clubs, as well as access to multiple major seed companies (Baker Creek, Kitazawa, Trade Winds Fruit, and dozens of others.) I've got two paw paw seeds sprouting in planters awaiting potting during the warmer part of the year. From common to exotic, we've got it covered here. And unlike you guys, outside the mountain ranges we barely hit freezing 9+ months of the year.
Having said all that, the Bay Area has turned into a shithole even (smart) natives are avoiding. A friend got a job there to try and break into the 'big league' software industry, and only still has that job because a year on they agreed to let him telecommute from a cheaper region a few counties over (75-100+ miles) rather than give him a raise (which had already been lowballed when he started and after the first year didn't cover his cost of living increases in the CHEAP (just shy of 'might get shot') parts of the bay.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday March 09 2018, @06:12AM
Suck my fucking dick, you goddamn niggers.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Saturday February 24 2018, @06:55PM (3 children)
My delivery drivers make it down 1/4 mile of unpaved potholes and dirt to drop packages at my door every day.
I feel like I'm paying Comcast $80 per month (or whatever the hell they want to charge) for similar internet access - flakes out when it rains, craps out my voice connections every few minutes, etc. Meanwhile, my tax dollars are putting 4 additional lanes onto the freeway a mile from my house - not sure we needed those, but I am sure that the project ran into the hundreds of millions.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @07:42PM (2 children)
Thank you for admitting you are a lazy rich asshole.
I don't have delivery drivers, because when I want to buy something, I walk to the goddamned store myself. I have exactly zero packages delivered to my house.
I pay $20 a month for internet since I'm not a stupid moron who says, "Duh, I gots to pays my $80 to Comcast cuz monopoly and stuff."
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @08:56PM
It sucks to be poor, huh?
Is that how you make what little money you have, by sucking?
Based on your writing, I'd say that was a much better use for your mouth that spewing the bullshit you're spewing here.
Kissy Kissy honey!
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @09:39PM
Dayum son, you been livin' high on the hawg with that in-home internet, real folks walk to the public library to get their network access - why you wastin' $20 per month on luxury? And walkin' to the store to get all your needs, you must be one of them lucky folks what lives next to a Circle K or somethin' - yep, that's real smart gettin' everything you need from the corner store, cars and gas and insurance is just for rich bastard asshole suckers.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Sunday February 25 2018, @10:21PM
By drone, of course.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday February 24 2018, @06:48PM (1 child)
Grow your infrastructure through voluntary trade, not imposition.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 25 2018, @04:41PM
I hear sprinkling some pennies around your infrastructure planters will keep the regulators away.