Access and Digital Divide

COM 300

Kathy E. Gill16 May 2006

Today’s Agenda

Recap Lecture/Discussion Discussion Leaders

Recap: Community Defined

Dyson: the unit in which people live, work and play Esther’s website, Release 1.0

Sardar: communities are shaped by a sense of belonging – to a place, common struggle, tradition, and history, in other words, it’s more than just having common interests

Recap: Connectivity About 60% of all homes have computers US – about half of all adults who are

online at home connect via broadband – that’s about 1/3 of all adults

Canada leads the G7 group of industrialized countries in broadband penetration (OECD) US is 16th (ITU)

Areas of Discussion Today

Digital Divide Access and Accessibility Public Space

US Is Not World Tech Leader

New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman, Aug 2005: (tongue-in-check) considering a run for President, promising that after four years, our cell phone service would be at least as good as Ghana's, and if elected for a second term, as good as Japan’s.

Digital Divide: Not Just 3rd World Definition: The gap between those who

have access to or who can benefit from technology and those who cannot

Examples: US: Rural/Urban broadband access US: “poor” / “rich” (access) English v “everything else” Half of the world’s population has never made a

telephone call (ITU) Internet indicators by country (pdf)

Digital Divide: Questions

Is technology (access) what developing countries need in order to rise about "developing status"? Why or why not?

Should the U.S. and other western countries subsidize technological development (access) in developing countries? Explain.

Digital Divide: Resources

Digital Divide Network DigitalDivide.org Libraries for the Future

Access and Accessibility (1/2)

There’s “access” and then there’s “accessibility”

Do we have access to a technology? Does the technology allow everyone

access (accessibility)? Whose responsibility is it to help

make the internet more accessible to all?

Access and Accessibility (2/2)

Today network neutrality is hot “access” topic Feb: AOL and Yahoo propose fee to ensure e-

mail delivery (IHT, 6 Feb 2006) $0.025 to $0.01 per e-mail Will not be subject to existing user spam filters A benefit for businesses (Ascribe, 2 Feb 2006)

AT&T and others are proposing “access-tiering” (two-tier Internet) (Red Herring, 31 Jan 2006) Prioritize packets? Streaming video is the

rationale

Net Neutrality (1/3)

There is something wrong with network owners saying “we’ll guarantee fast video service from NBC on your broadband account.” And there is something especially wrong with network owners telling content or service providers that they can’t access a meaningful broadband network unless they pay an access tax.

I don’t mean “wrong” in the sense of immoral, or even unfair. My argument is not about the social justice of Internet access. I mean “wrong” in the sense that such a policy will inevitably weaken application competition on the Internet, and that in turn will weaken Internet growth. Testimony, Lawrence Lessig, Stanford, Senate Commerce, Science and

Transportation Committee, 7 February 2006

Net Neutrality (2/3)

HR 5252: Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006 (COPE) Would set up a national franchise for cable

companies, replacing the current system of locally negotiated contracts.

Would preempt state and local consumer protection laws; preempt local government authority over municipal rights of way; and preempt state laws prohibiting local governments from offering certain services to provide Internet access.

Net Neutrality (3/3)

SaveTheInternet.com Ramblings on Net Neutrality

Public Space: Form of Access “From the time that humans first defined

private spaces, public spaces have served as places where people have come together to exchange ideas. From the ancient Greek's Agora to the Middle Ages' Commons to early 20th century American urban streets and parks, public spaces have been centers for free speech and public discourse.”

Howard Besser, UCLA, 2001

Public Space and Free Speech “[T]he First Amendment affords the public

access to discussion, debate, and the dissemination of information and ideas... the right to receive information is an inherent corollary of the rights of free speech and press that are explicitly guaranteed by the Constitution... the right to receive ideas is a necessary predicate to the recipient's meaningful exercise of his own rights of speech, press, and political freedom." Supreme Court, 1978, First National Bank of Boston v.

Bellotti

Public Space is Important Public space provides the potential for the gathering

of people who might not otherwise come in contact with one another in their daily lives. In this way public space is crucial to the public sphere (Jacobs, 1999)

In public space, action gains publicity because it is visible to the public (Mattson, 1999; Putnam, 2000)

Cyberspace has been called a surrogate public space (Gumpert & Drucker, 1992, 1998) or the "electronic agora" (Rheingold 1993, 14).

A story from COM538, 2003

Public Space Nurtures Diversity

Open to everyone No monetary barrier, no physical barrier

(ADA), no “color” barrier (desegregation) Examples: city streets, parks, public

transportation, public buildings Others?

Pseudo Public Space

Shopping malls, sports stadiums Private spaces Can control speech Can control access

Airwaves As Public Space Radio and TV licenses predicated on broadcasting that

serves the “public interest” Public Radio and TV (PBS) What happens when “everyone” watches “cableTV,” a

private space? Will “internet TV” provide another pseudo commons?

Comedy Central’s The Daily Show Crooks and Liars, Google Video (parody), BitTorrent,

Archive from About.com, iFilm (viral video), MediaMatters, OneGoodMove (Jeff Gannon), Clip Requests

Public Space and The Commons West Law and Supreme Court (and other) decisions

Who shall control the commons? Do we want all “transactions” mediated by “the

market”? Copyright, Copyleft, Creative Commons

Public Domain, Fair Use, First Sale A 1709 law set copyright for 14 years Prior to 1976, copyright was granted for 28 years and

renewable for another 28 years for a total of 56 years The 1976 Copyright Act boosted the term to 75 years The1998 Sonny Bono Term Extension Act extended the

copyright to 95 years for corporations and 70 years after death for individuals

10x10 rests on fair use

“Public Space” in Cyberspace (1/2)

Community Networks The Community Network Movement Seattle Community Network Minnesota’s eDemocracy

Variation on the public square as meeting, a political organization and discussion venue

“Public Space” in Cyberspace (2/2)

Public (free) WiFi in the US Spokane New York Parks, Google in NY/SF Coffee shops in Seattle Free WiFi Directory

By providing free WiFi, do you think that we are intensifying a constant need for news, info and entertainment? Why or why not?

Summary (1/2)

Access is only part of the DD story Although most of the DD story is outside our

borders, it’s not just outside our border Access also means public space Public space is critical to a diverse society

and to democracy Public space is changing

Network TV -> Cable TV Rise of pseudo public space

Summary (2/2)

Efforts to foster public space in cyberspace include community networks and publicly accessible WiFi Both focus on access first, benefits of

technology second Watch COPE!

Discussion Leaders

Group 4 Amanda Brook Jarrod Joe Ken Marian

Thursday

Reminder: open lab Help with projects Help with PPT Help with citations