Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Power and Free Broadband To the People

Posted by samzenpus on from the get-you-some-internet dept.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes Slashdot member and open source developer Ben Kallos @KallosEsq — who is now a NYC Councilman — is pushing to make it a precondition to Comcast's merging with Time Warner that it agree to provide free broadband to all public housing residents in the City (and by free I mean free as in beer). Kallos, along with NY's Public Advocate, Letitia James, is leading a group of state and local politicians calling on Comcast to help bridge the digital divide in NY.

4 of 262 comments (clear)

  1. Two wrongs doesn't make it right by sinij · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Merger is anti-market, anti-competitive and will result in shittier and more expensive internet for everyone. Also, there is no such thing as free, costs will be passed to existing paying customers, again making it more expensive.

  2. Bad idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Here is a solution: don't allow Comcast to merge with Time Warner! Who cares about "free" broadband? That would cost them maybe a $1 million and the rest of us about $20 billion in increased fees to support the TWC/Comcast monopoly. Ben has a small mind.

  3. Re:Just like "free" housing solved poverty! by unimacs · · Score: 5, Informative

    At my son's current high school (and even to a certain extent my daughter's grade school), having Internet access at home is an expectation.

    At my son's grade school, it was a different story. They had a substantial number of kids whose families were below the poverty line and for whom Internet access could not be assumed. I was on the leadership council and the lack of Internet access for many families caused a lot of difficulties for the school both in terms of the educational materials that could be provided and in terms of communicating with parents.

    It is my opinion that poverty is partially systemic. Our economic system depends on there being a pool of available workers (unemployed and underemployed). So as long as there is capitalism and a functioning free market, there will always be poor people. That being the case, we have a responsibility to make sure the basic needs of everyone are met. Increasingly in order to succeed in school and in life, Internet access isn't really a luxury.

  4. Re: Just like "free" housing solved poverty! by nbauman · · Score: 5, Informative

    MacDowels

    Yeah, right.

    The New York Times compared Hampus Elofsson, 24, who works for Burger King in Copenhagen, Denmark, with Anthony Moore, shift manager at Burger King, Tampa, FL. Elofsson makes 20 an hour, time and a half for overtime and Sundays, has enough for a night out with his friends and a savings account (plus government health care). Moore makes $9 an hour for a 35-hour week, gets $164 a month in food stamps, is behind on his bills, can't buy clothes for his kids, and can't afford Burger King's health plan.
    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10...