Haven’t posted much, as I’ve been busier than I can imagine, and a big computer crash in our office from last weekend into Tuesday put me waaaayy behind.
Fortunately, my good buddies and folks who actually deploy stuff (as opposedto us lawyers) Sascha Meinrath and Steve Ronan (both involved with CTCNet, as well as Sascha’s role with CUWN have sounded the alarm for me.
According to my friends at Free Press, the forces of municipal broadband won a major victory in Florida. Following a nasty legislative fight in the heart of Bell South territory, the Republican dominated legislature saw fit to impose only one condition on municipal broadband — annual reports.
Score since PA: Public interest- 3, Incumbents-0, Tie-1 (WV, where positive legislation was neutralized)
Stay tuned . . . .
The Chicago Independent Media Center reports that the Ilinois Bill containing the anti-muni provision, Senate Bill 499, was not called in the IL Senate as expected. Negative publicity and citizen protest have apparently caused supporters of the bill to reconsider introducing it.
Score another one for the good citizens of IL and citizens everywhere! But, as the IMC article notes, this could well get buried in the general effort to reform the telecom rules in IL. We have the momentum, but the incumbents are very well financed and very patient.
Stay tuned . . . .
The incumbents go for speed over finese in this latest round. LB 157, just introduced in the NE legislature, proposes a flat out ban on municipal systems. Critically, this has been designated “emergency legislation” so that it can move through the legislature swiftly and with minimal debate. Apparently, the idea that citizens might have a say in their own governance is an “emergency” in Nebraska — at least if you are a legislator who is also a wholly owned subsidiary of the Telco and Cable lobby.
Here’s hoping the people of Nebraska find out what’s going on soon enough to act!
stay tuned . . . .
It appears to be my day to pick on poor Esme at the truly amazing and wonderful Muniwireless website. Recently, she published this article on Ohio House Bill 591. Esme and others think it is the next in a series of bills like the recent HB 30 signed into law by Governor Rendell. Me, I’m not so sure. My analysis of Ohio’s 591 (and why, even if stupid, it is not evil) below.
I will be speaking tomorrow night (Wed. Nov. 17) at a community forum organized by Media Tank on the Phildelphia proposed municple wifi project and why it is cool. Not surprisingly, Comcast and other local incumbents are mobilizing to pounce upon the proposal like my cat Quantum on a lame sparrow — but with much less respect for the sanctity of life than Quantum usually shows. At least Comcast is unlikely to stuff the corpse in the vents between the walls of my house, so that when I try to sell it the inspector discovers a grave yard of bloated, dead municple infrastructure projects. Hmm… I think that analogy went on a bit too long. (Becky, please provide a link in the comments to a suitable picture of Quantum, preferably pouncing on a municiple wifi project in our computer room).
Stay tuned …
But while the uproar has swayed much of the public to Johansson's defense at a time when #genAI is increasingly under scrutiny, this may not quite be an open-and-shut case should she decide to sue . Read the breakdown from @M_F_Rose in her latest article:
The release of @OpenAI's new digital assistant "Sky" stirred controversy after actress Scarlett Johansson alleged that the company had infringed on her rights by using a soundalike voice of hers after she'd declined to voice it herself.
Just saw @MargotSusca fantastic interview with @adamconover about the death of local news at the hands of hedge funds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N21YfWy0-bA A theme I have written about *a lot*. Like this blog post from 2018: https://wetmachine.com/tales-of-the-sausage-factory/we-need-to-fix-the-news-media-not-just-social-media-part-i/ This has been a long time in the making.
I wrote yesterday on the terrifying escalation of antisemitism in Canada, citing events just over past week. Now there is more: last night a firebomb attempt at a Vancouver synagogue. Daily antisemitic incidents is who we are now.
https://www.jewishvancouver.com/important-community-updates-may-20-2024
https://x.com/mgeist/status/1796233336203194446
