FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel authored an op-ed in the Detroit Free Press on the homework gap caused by the digital divide. How can we fix it? By making changes to the FCC’s Lifeline program. “It needs an update for the broadband era,” Rosenworcel writes. She also suggests “we can do more to increase the availability of Wi-Fi.” Public Wi-Fi is becoming more common & offers a great solution for those who cannot otherwise access it. However the often overloaded networks can be painfully slow, as Chris Ziegler notes in the Verge.
According to a new report from Pew Research Center, people in developing and emerging nations view the Internet as good for education but bad for morality.
Cables lying on the seafloor “transmit 99 percent of international data,” reports Phil Edwards in Vox, in an article looking at a map (shown above) of all these cables.
Reporting for the Hill, Mario Trujillo discusses Republican party consideration of legislation that would prevent the FCC from capping what Internet Service Providers can charge.
The Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger is still a topic of much debate. The LA Times editorial board argues that the merger offers an opportunity to stipulate conditions such that Comcast narrows the digital divide. New York City Public Advocate Letitia James has stated that if the merger is to go through, Comcast needs to provide 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speeds for $9.95 a month. James’ other requests include providing access and equipment for public housing residents, providing discounted services to small businesses, increasing transparency around price increases, and more.
And finally, the .com domain was first registered 30 years ago this week. Christian de Looper takes a look at how the Internet has changed over the years.