Slashdot Mirror
City Of Houston To Offer Free Email To Residents
Don Symes writes: "The City of Houston is getting ready to roll out 'free' email and web-hosted word processing. First to libraries and fire stations(!?), poorer areas, then to those who can afford ISPs."
It would be interesting to compare the cost of Internet Access Technologies' multi-million dollar contract with private ISP access, especially for the dozen other cities considering similar deals.
Will the spammers be signing up all the poor people down there to do their dirty work for them? What kind of terms of service will the city impose and how bad does somebody have to screw up to lose their privileges, and how soon will the fight start over whether it's privilege or right?
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
* Microsoft. The software giant last year announced it will donate $100 million in cash and software over 5 years to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to build 3,000 centers where kids can use PCs.
Far be it for me to sound cynical, but I wonder how much of that $100 million "in cash and software" is software licenses?
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Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...
Cool! Maybe someday they'll catch up to the Cleveland Freenet, 8 years of free publicly accessible e-mail!
This is a great step forward to catching up with Cleveland.
No wonder. If you're only giving them 1000 access points (PCs) for the whole of Houston then no wonder they'll have to queue for or even book their internet access. What good is a free email account when you dont have easy access to it?
Your pizza just the way you ought to have it.
What would a true government programm be if it didn't involve standing in a line?
now the firestation comes to the rescue.
2 1337 4 u!
Can some one tell how bad the digital divide was before the information age?
Needless to say I am really happy that since the information age is here we can fix this problem.
Ascii artist &
I noticed a small bit when RTFA:
"People who verify their residence will get a SimDesk account number to access the software, including word processing, and e-mail."
What precisely does "verify your residence" mean? My guess is that it means you will have to have a house, or an apartment, or some other solid place to live. People who are living out of a cardboard box need not apply. So although this is lowing the bar, certain people will still be denied access.
Despite that, this is a dramatic step in the right direction. Although some say that only a thousand access points is too few, remember that the majority of Houstonians won't be using the public terminals -- they have their own connections -- and they probably don't even go into the neighborhoods where these will be installed.
Anyhow, if people who can't afford the 'net are lined up to use these, that's a good sign to me. What I'd be most afraid of is that these people would simply have no interest in using them, either due to ignorance or because a particular library terminal is part of a gang's turf.
If the private sector is performing a service amicably -- e.g., providing free e-mail accounts to anyone with web access -- why would a locality waste even a tiny bit of resources to accomplish the same?
The odd legal twist on this -- that reason that I am even posting on this thread -- is that the Houston e-mail account doubtlessly will be more constrained than AOL or its ilk in what it can and cannot do to subscribers.
For example, let's say that some enterprising young tech at Houston's e-mail server decides to start reading e-mail at random, with the intention of invading privacy. That could satisfy the state action requirement necessary to make out a constitutional claim, with attorneys fees available for even a suit that garners only nominal damages.
For a more dramatic example, let's say that the e-mail system is administered in a way that creates a disparate impact on racial minorities. Let's say that some nut commandeers a server and spams hatemail across the ether. The state could be liable where a private actor would not be. (The constitutional generally only prevents state action that impinges on a citizen's rights, not the same conduct undertaken by a private actor.)
That's without even touching on the potential liability under Title VI and other federal statutes if the e-mail program employs federal funds.
Why would any municipality want to do this?
As a resident of Houston, it's actually a breath of fresh air to hear about forward thinking initiatives such as this. NO, this does not = free Internet access (as some readers have concluded) but this does give many of Houston's less fortunate (read poorer) citizens access to resources otherwise reserved for those who can afford a computer and regular Internet access. In my eyes, every step to elevate citizens beyond their financial boundaries, through the use of technology, is commendable.
On another note, Houston is also experimenting with electronic voting tablets. They've already invested millions and have held a mock election. I hope this is the beginning of a trend. When I was in SF for training a few months back, I couldn't help but notice the "Peace Love and Linux" symbols on every other sidewalk corner downtown. The perception of a Linux loving community is pretty cool and very forward thinking.
PRIME - Indivisible by anything but ME!
No, no, no, and finally, no. I've worked with a couple of freenet projects. We took donated old PC hardware, fixed it up and provided it free of charge (along with a free account with an ISP) to people who just couldn't afford to pay.
Strange as it may seem to you, there are people who can't afford this who can read.
Some are old folks who use the Internet as a companion when nobody else is around. Others are inner-city and/or very rural kids whose parents are so screwed up that they can barely afford to keep the electricity on, much less provide connectivity.
The Internet to them can be a form of escape. Not only in the sense of a mental escape from their harsh reality, but in a physical escape from the poverty that surrounds them by utilizing the information that they then have access to via the 'net to make a better life for themselves.
No, not everyone who can read has ready access to a computer and the Internet. Not even close.
load "linux",8,1
Not true in the details, but true enough in concept. Plus, it throws in a little MS bashing. Everyone loves that...