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Baby Bell Deregulation Bill Fails To Pass In Kansas
Masem writes "A rather interesting debate has been happening in Kansas recently that has been mirrored across the country, in that the baby Bells have been trying to urge state governments to remove the restrictions for them to offer their lines to outside parties; in exchange, the Bells have been promising to develop a strong broadband network in the state. (See, for example, this and this story on DSL Reports for efforts in Missouri and South Carolina.) However, the legislative commission in the Kansas House of Representatives that oversees the telecomm industry has voted against such deregulation, citing concerns on monopolies and competition, despite heavy lobbying by SBC in favor of the bill. SBC has stated that they will now put their broadband deployment plans in Kansas on hold, but look towards the outcome of similar discussions on the same bill on the Senate side of the Kansas Congress."
linux sux
see my sig file
Slashdot 's editors are dickheads
30,29,28...lameness filter gone?
1st p0st.....w00t
fp. claimed for ACs everywhere.
In old Beowulf Russia, Shoes Deregulared in Kansas wants YOU!
[carefully selects Post Anonymously]
I'm beginning to think that this has nothing to do with cheese... ;)
Powered by onion juice.
see my sig file
Slashdot 's editors are dickheads
I'm beginning to think that this has very little to do with cheese... ;)
Powered by onion juice.
You mean those little cheeses? Were they regulated in the first place?
Can't get enough of that
Can't get enough of that
Can't get enough of that
Throatse.cx!
Question: Do Iraqis have internet access?
Answer: Yes
From BBC's website:
Question: Do Iraqis have internet cafés?
Whether you are worried, angry or confused, there are thousands of questions surrounding the Iraq crisis. The Iraq Questions Panel is trying to give you some answers.
QUESTION
Morgan K, UK
Do Iraqis have access to internet cafés and can they see BOTH sides of the story if they would like to do this? Would you as a person living there say they are (involuntarily) isolated from any information originating outside Iraq? Or do they choose not to access it because of mistrust?
ANSWER
From Rageh Omaar, BBC correspondent in Baghdad
Iraqis do have access to internet cafes. That's one of the surprising developments in Baghdad over the last year.
Due to sanctions, communications of all sorts have been very bad until now. But in the last year internet cafés have begun to spring up in hotels and downtown areas. You can log on to most sites. For example Iraqi's can log on the official 10 Downing Street site and the CIA State Department site. They're not barred. Of course sites with any pornographic content are blocked.
You can go to the internet cafés and see a lot of people mainly between the ages of 20 and 30 surfing all kinds of websites, looking at life in other Arab countries. But the majority don't look at political sites, amazingly.
They look at news sites like the BBC Arabic Service and other international sites. But a great deal of Iraqis are interested in 'lifestyle' content - music, movie stars - the run-of -the-mill websites that people log on to all around the world.
Most Iraqis know what the news is, what the reality of the situation is and their conclusion is that whatever is said or written by any news organisation, war is certain
Iraqis can see "both sides of the story" as you put it. They can read what the BBC is reporting. You can read what the Iraqi foreign ministry is saying. You can read what the White House is publishing and you can visit the official UN Inspections website.
Access to the internet isn't a mass thing. There aren't hundreds of these cafés - just 26 of them in Baghdad. Pricewise, it isn't cheap for Iraqis. It costs the equivalent of a dollar for two hours' use. For journalists and the Iraqi elite, it is nothing. But it's quite a lot for most ordinary people. It's not within the reach of a vast majority of people.
But a lot of people can afford it. But I don't think you can get an internet connection to your home. The telecommunications system in Iraq couldn't support it.
E-mail is a bit more difficult. You have to have some sort of local server account plugged into the local Iraqi system.
And if you have a short wave radio there is an audience for international radio outlets. The audience for BBC World Service and the Arabic Service and Voice of America is huge. A lot of people tune in. Television is a very different matter. People don't have access to international satellite channels like BBC World or CNN. This is very limited.
There is only one newspaper that reports what international news agencies say. It's a newspaper called Babil, which is owned by the elder son of the Iraqi president. To a certain extent it uses verbatim reports from BBC, Reuters, Arabic newspapers and sticks them straight in, without any changes.
It is a different case with the official state newspapers. They give the view of the government and wouldn't carry full, unedited international reports. But Babil does. So Iraqis are able to read this actually and that explains why it's proven to be such a massive hit in Iraq.
It's hard to say if there's any mistrust of international reports. It's not the kind of things Iraqis will comment on openly to a foreigner.
But most Iraqis know what the news is, what the reality of the situation is and their conclusion is that whatever is said or written by any news organisation, war is certain. Nothing will change their minds, whoever says it from whatever quarter.