Benton Institute for Broadband & Society - Seattle Times

Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder

benton — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 11:18:59 +0000

Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft and a prominent leader of both business and philanthropy in the Seattle area, stamped his mark on the city’s economy and culture as well as its skyline as he pursued a wide range of passions from science to sports. Allen died at age 65 from complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, just two weeks after announcing he had restarted treatment for the cancer that he had previously fought off in 2009. Allen co-founded Redmond tech giant Microsoft with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975. Microsoft’s creation – and the region’s eventual transformation into a world center for software development – began with Allen and his pal Gates sneaking into a University of Washington building to tinker with its large mainframe computer. Later it was Allen who brought Gates a magazine article about one of the first personal computers, excited about the opportunity for them to create software for the nascent platform. They co-founded Microsoft in 1975, launching one of the most profitable businesses ever. After leaving the company in 1983, he turned his focus to a wide range of other business and scientific pursuits, which ranged from founding the Allen Institute for Brain Science to the real estate arm of Vulcan, which went on to build much of Amazon’s campus.

Benton Content:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/obituaries/microsoft-co-founder-paul-a…

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/obituaries/paul-allen-dead.html

Teaser:

Paul Allen, known for his generosity to social services and deep love of sports and the arts, died from complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Source:

Seattle Times

Author:

Rachel Lerman

Send date:

Tue, 10/16/2018

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 10/15/2018

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Tue, 10/16/2018

Coverage Type:

Reporting

Ownership

Shout it with me: FCC is bringing back net neutrality

Grace Tepper — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 15:46:57 +0000

Millions of people have called on the Federal Communications Commission to protect the free and open internet — backed by the authority of Title II of the Communications Act — registering more public comments on this issue than any other in the agency’s history. Now, under the leadership of FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel — who had to wait two years to act until the Senate filled a vacant seat on the commission — net neutrality, gutted under the Trump administration, is back on the docket. A new vote to restore it is set for April 25 at the FCC. Without Title II authority, the FCC can’t protect user privacy, promote broadband competition, eliminate hidden junk fees and other scams, or step in when monopoly-minded internet service providers do you wrong. During the height of the pandemic, for example, the FCC was left begging companies not to cut off service because the agency lacked the legal mandate to make demands of AT&T, Charter, Comcast and Verizon. The draft order released in April 2024 by Rosenworcel and her staff would fix these problems and restore the agency’s rightful authority over internet access services. In the remaining days before a final vote, we’re likely to see an upsurge in industry fueled misinformation and long-debunked claims. The truth is that net neutrality is so necessary because it’s how the internet has always worked — and it’s what makes possible an internet where people can make their own choices, not just pick from a fixed menu dictated and filtered by a few giant gatekeepers.

[Craig Aaron is the co-CEO of Free Press and Free Press Action, which aim to give people a say in policy decisions that shape media and technology.]

Benton Content:

https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/shout-it-with-me-fcc-is-bringing-back-net-n…

Teaser:

The truth is that net neutrality is so necessary because it’s how the internet has always worked.

Source:

Seattle Times

Author:

Craig Aaron

Send date:

Thu, 04/25/2024

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 4/24/2024

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Publish Date:

Wed, 04/24/2024

Coverage Type:

Op-Ed

Agenda

Upcoming policy issue

Digital Equity/Digital Inclusion

Digital Divide

Federal Agency

Federal Communications Commission

Internet/Broadband

Universal Broadband

Regulatory classification

Level of Government

Federal

Network Neutrality

Restore net neutrality, crucial to democracy

benton — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 12:33:39 +0000

The battle for network neutrality (aka the open internet) is back. It’s something that should have been instituted years ago. In fact, it actually was on the books—until then-President Donald Trump’s Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Ajit Pai, ditched the rules, largely at the behest of the big internet service providers like Verizon, AT&T and Comcast. Net neutrality rules were not only on the books, but were also court-approved. That should have been the end of the matter. Instead, today we have no such rules. Without open internet rules, there is nothing to stop the telecom giants from throttling your service, blocking your access to the net, giving priority access to their own subsidiaries or giving preference to wealthy content providers willing to pay high rates for priority carriage. That means fast lanes for the well-to-do and slow lanes for the rest of us. Combining distribution control with content control is the essence of monopoly. It’s time to put the brakes on the ISPs. They should not be free from oversight, free to throttle, free to block, free to deny privacy, free to favor a few at the expense of the many, and free to run roughshod over perhaps the most liberating and opportunity-creating communications tool in all of history. So, get involved. Let the FCC, your elected representatives, your colleagues and friends know this is important to you and your country. Because it is.

[Michael Copps is a former FCC commissioner and chairman. He is special advisor on Media & Democracy Reform at Common Cause.]

Benton Content:

https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/restore-net-neutrality-crucial-to-democracy…

Teaser:

The battle for network neutrality (aka the open internet) is back. It’s something that should have been instituted years ago.

Source:

Seattle Times

Author:

Michael Copps

Send date:

Mon, 11/20/2023

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 11/17/2023

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Not Available

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Publish Date:

Mon, 11/20/2023

Coverage Type:

Op-Ed

Agenda

Upcoming policy issue

Digital Content

Federal Agency

Federal Communications Commission

Internet/Broadband

Regulatory classification

Legislation

Communications Act of 1934

Telecommunications Act of 1996

Level of Government

Federal

Network Neutrality

Michael Copps | Restore net neutrality, crucial to democracy (Seattle Times)

Grace Tepper — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 06:34:20 +0000

Links:

Michael Copps | Restore net neutrality, crucial to democracy

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Source:

Seattle Times

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Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 11/17/2023

Facebook parent Meta fined $25 Million for Washington campaign finance violations (Seattle Times)

benton — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 11:33:33 +0000

Links:

Facebook parent Meta fined $25 Million for Washington campaign finance violations

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Source:

Seattle Times

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Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 10/26/2022

How Seattle Public Library’s Wi-Fi hot spot program has fared

dclay@benton.org — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 21:03:36 +0000

Seattle residents don’t have to be at a Seattle Public Library (SPL) branch to use the internet. In a 2013 study about technology access and adoption in Seattle, the city found that 15% of 4,315 Seattle residents couldn’t access the internet, despite resources such as community center and library computers. In 2015, SPL launched the Wi-Fi hot spot circulation program as a way to address the lack of affordable, widespread internet access. While anyone with a library card can check out a hot spot for up to 21 days from their nearest library branch, outreach hot spots can be loaned out for much longer. While SPL’s yearlong closure caused a dip in checkouts in 2020, Seattle residents used their checked-out hot spots even more during the pandemic. In 2021, additional general circulation hot spots shortened the waiting time for a hot spot from 10, to 4 or 5 weeks. Residents and community partners generally agree the hot spot program has been beneficial. It currently has a rating of 4.5 stars on its website, averaging 418 reviews as of August 17. Seattle community leaders have emphasized that the ultimate solution is to have broadband access more widely and permanently across the city.

Benton Content:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/how-seattle-public-librarys-wi-fi-hots…

Teaser:

Long before the pandemic started, the Seattle Public Library understood the need for internet and Wi-Fi access.

Source:

Seattle Times

Author:

Jenny Kwon

Send date:

Thu, 09/01/2022

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 8/31/2022

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Publish Date:

Wed, 08/31/2022

Coverage Type:

Reporting

Community Anchor Institutions

Libraries

Devices

Digital Equity/Digital Inclusion

Internet/Broadband

Universal Broadband

Marginalized Populations

Low-income

Wireless Telecommunications

Wireless Internet

Will government funding solve Washington's digital divide?

Grace Tepper — Thu, 23 Dec 2021 13:45:38 +0000

Living here in many tribal and rural parts of Washington state, even on the fringes of cities including Seattle, Spokane and Leavenworth, means it’s often difficult or impossible to connect to the online world. When the pandemic largely turned the online world into the world for many urbanites, hundreds of thousands of people in Washington were shut out. The federal government has spent billions trying to solve the digital divide — a project many say is as big and necessary as it once was to get electricity into every home — and is on the verge of spending more than ever. Congress last month approved $65 billion for expanding broadband in its massive infrastructure bill. Of that, $2 billion is reserved for Tribal lands — where only 65 percent of residents had broadband access as of 2019, according to the US Department of Interior — on top of $1 billion allocated earlier this year. Separately, the state Broadband Office is about to start giving out grants using money already allocated by the Legislature. Many are seizing the moment, but whether all the cash coming down the pike will be put to good use is another matter.

Benton Content:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/when-the-world-turned-digital-hundreds…

Teaser:

Washington residents look to government funding to help close the state's digital divide.

Source:

Seattle Times

Author:

Nina Shapiro

Send date:

Thu, 12/23/2021

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 12/22/2021

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Thu, 12/23/2021

Coverage Type:

Affordability/Cost/Price

Infrastructure

Telecommunication

Wireless Telecommunications

Editorial | Connectivity, innovation require a strong FCC: Senate should approve nominee Sohn (Seattle Times)

Grace Tepper — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 23:45:06 +0000

Links:

Editorial | Connectivity, innovation require a strong FCC: Senate should approve nominee Sohn

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Source:

Seattle Times

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Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 11/17/2021

The game is rigged: A former marketer shows you how Big Tech’s advertising practices harm us all

benton — Sun, 12 Jul 2020 15:35:40 +0000

It appears the US Justice Department and a group of state attorneys general likely will file antitrust lawsuits against Alphabet Inc.’s Google for an array of anti-competitive practices in its search and ad technology businesses. At the same time, the Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department and a group of 47 state attorneys general have opened inquiries into Facebook, looking at antitrust behavior as well as possible privacy law violations. It’s about time. We need a strong referee to change the advertising game and protect consumers: How do we solve the problems perpetuated by the dominance of Facebook and Google in the advertising market? It will probably take a system of solutions. The answer to many market problems is more competition and more choice, and I’m hopeful that antitrust enforcement will bring that about. A dedicated U.S. regulatory agency with specialized expertise and the agility it requires could also set and enforce new rules as a referee. Consumers also seem to be waking up to the harms of the digital platforms and may change some of their social behaviors. And given that 98% or more of these companies’ revenues come from advertising, I hope more of my advertising colleagues wake up to their power, too.

[Lisa Macpherson is a senior policy fellow at Public Knowledge]

Benton Content:

https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/the-game-is-rigged-a-former-marketer-shows-…

Teaser:

The field is tilted, in favor of the two dominant players — Google and Facebook — who set the rules. This is the story of how we got here and what we can do about it.

Source:

Seattle Times

Author:

Lisa Macpherson

Send date:

Mon, 07/13/2020

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 7/10/2020

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