industryterm:high-speed internet

  • How Libertarian theology and Trump are destroying the Internet — and America – Alternet.org
    https://www.alternet.org/2019/01/how-libertarian-theology-and-trump-are-destroying-the-internet-and-america

    With speeds up to 100 times faster than current 4G cellular data, 5G will make possible everything from driverless cars to cell-connected long-distance drones to precision remote surgery. The amount of data flowing through our cellular systems will explode, along with places it can be used and the uses to which it can be applied.

    Remote applications that are currently too difficult to wire for high-speed internet or won’t work well at 4G speeds will easily become remotely controlled, spreading the internet revolution to every device in the home, office, and even remote workplaces.

    Along with all this data will, inevitably, come hackers, both criminal and state-sponsored. The amount of data that it now takes a third of a year to harvest with 4G can be scooped up in a single day using 5G.

    Given that the U.S. government invented the internet (yes, Al Gore did co-author the legislation) and has a huge stake in its security, doesn’t it make sense that our government should provide, at least in framework and standards, for its security?

    But, no. Trump and Pence want to do to the FCC what they’ve done to the EPA, the Department of the Interior, the FDA, and to oversight of our banking systems.

    According to Trump and his billionaire libertarian owners, the safety and security of America is not the proper role of government. Not our air, our water, our public lands, or even our internet.

    “Just turn it all over to the billionaires,” they say. “What could possibly go wrong?”

    FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, the former Verizon lawyer, even went so far as to say that “the market, not government, is best positioned to drive innovation and leadership” with regard to internet security.

    Meanwhile, the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee—after looking at how 5G will blow open data operations across the country—wrote just three months ago that “the cybersecurity threat now poses an existential threat to the future of the nation.”

    #Cybersécurité #Libertariens #Idéologie_californienne #5G #Normalisation

  • New Report Highlights Discrimination Issues in Online Platforms - National Employment Law Project
    https://www.nelp.org/blog/new-report-highlights-discrimination-issues-online-platforms

    n important new report by Data & Society highlights the employment barriers and discrimination risks created by online labor platforms for non-white, low-income, older, or non-native-English-speaking workers, who may be frozen out of use of the platforms altogether.[1]

    Researchers interviewed in-home child and elder care workers and housecleaners who use online platforms, such as Care.com, Handy, and UrbanSitter, to find work. The researchers found that these platforms required job-seekers to have certain skills—such as self-branding, digital communication fluency, and social media savviness—that do not reflect the skills or experience required for the work. Job-seekers also needed to know how to navigate the unspoken cultural norms that shape activity on these platforms, e.g., presenting a compelling work history while providing an appealing mix of information about one’s private life.

    Job seekers also need resources—such as reliable, high-speed Internet access and the time needed to manage their accounts—so that they can apply to jobs, update their profiles, and respond to messages, all of which can impact their rating and future job offers. Care.com, for example, identifies some platform users as “CarePros,” indicated by a badge next to a user’s profile, based on criteria such as opting in to mobile alerts, maintaining a high-star rating, and responding to 75 percent of messages within 24 hours.[3] And, because platform job openings can receive dozens of applicants in a short amount of time, users need to constantly check their accounts so that they don’t lose out on opportunities. Many caregivers simply can’t afford the resources needed to participate fully in online platforms.[4]

    The authors of the project concluded that the skills needed to navigate online labor platforms exacerbate inequalities in the domestic work industry, because workers need to understand the unspoken cultural norms that shape activity on the platforms.[5] White, U.S.-born caregivers typically have access to higher-paying and higher-status jobs than non-white or foreign-born caregivers because of their perceived cultural matching or fit with employers, which is often based on stereotypes about a worker’s race or ethnicity.

    #Travail #Plateformes #Marché_emploi #Réseaux_sociaux #Inégalités

  • #blockchain is Helping to Restructure the Freelance Economy
    https://hackernoon.com/blockchain-is-helping-to-restructure-the-freelance-economy-cdae29f91ba0?

    image source kisspng.comThe last decade has witnessed a generational shift in the nature of work. The 9 to 5 daily grind, and the strain of “working for the man” are all being challenged as people embrace a new understanding of employment and work.The 2008 global recession and the maturation and accessibly of technology, are the primary causes for this shift. When the global recession pushed unemployment over 10%, people weren’t content with relying on traditional work structures and started looking for alternatives. Powered by near-ubiquitous access to high-speed internet and affordable computing devices, these motivated individuals took matters into their own hands by creating a new understanding of work and income generationThe participants in this shift go by many names: freelancers, (...)

    #blockchain-freelance #freelance-economy #blockchain-economy

  • F.C.C. Chairman Pushes Sweeping Changes to Net Neutrality Rules - The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/26/technology/net-neutrality.html

    The chairman, Ajit Pai, said high-speed internet service should no longer be treated like a public utility with strict rules, as it is now. The move would, in effect, largely leave the industry to police itself.

    The plan is Mr. Pai’s most forceful action in his race to roll back rules that govern telecommunications, cable and broadcasting companies, which he says are harmful to business. But he is certain to face a contentious battle with the consumers and tech companies that rallied around the existing rules, which are meant to prevent broadband providers like AT&T and Comcast from giving special treatment to any streaming videos, news sites and other content.

    The policy was the signature telecom regulation of the Obama era. It classified broadband as a common carrier service akin to phones, which are subject to strong government oversight. President Obama made an unusual public push for the reclassification in a video message that was widely shared and appeared to embolden the last F.C.C. chairman, Tom Wheeler, to make the change.

    The classification also led to the creation of broadband privacy rules in 2016 that made it harder to collect and sell browsing information and other user data. Last month, President Trump signed a bill overturning the broadband privacy regulations, which would have gone into effect at the end of the year.

    Last week, Mr. Pai went to Silicon Valley to meet with executives of tech companies like Facebook, Oracle, Cisco and Intel to solicit their support for revisions to the broadband rules. The Silicon Valley companies are divided on their views about the existing policy, with internet companies like Facebook supporting strong rules and hardware and chip makers open to Mr. Pai’s changes.

    The F.C.C.’s policing of broadband companies has drawn greater interest with recent proposals for big mergers, such as AT&T’s $85 billion bid for Time Warner, that create huge media conglomerates that distribute and own video content. Already, AT&T is giving mobile subscribers free streaming access to television content by DirecTV, which it owns. Consumer groups have complained that such practices, known as sponsored data, put rivals at a disadvantage and could help determine what news and information is most likely to reach consumers.

    About 800 tech start-ups and investors, organized by the Silicon Valley incubator Y Combinator and the San Francisco policy advocacy group Engine, protested the unwinding of net neutrality in a letter sent to Mr. Pai on Wednesday.

    “Without net neutrality, the incumbents who provide access to the internet would be able to pick winners or losers in the market,” they wrote in the letter.

    So far, Google and Netflix, the most vocal proponents of net neutrality in previous years, have not spoken individually about Mr. Pai’s proposal. Speaking through their trade group, the Internet Association, they said the broadband and net neutrality rules should stay intact.
    “Rolling back these rules or reducing the legal sustainability of the order will result in a worse internet for consumers and less innovation online,” Michael Beckerman, chief executive of the Internet Association, said in a statement.

    #neutralité_internet

  • Broadband Providers Will Need Permission to Collect Private Data - The New York Times
    http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/28/technology/fcc-tightens-privacy-rules-for-broadband-providers.html

    It was the first time the F.C.C. has passed such online protections. The agency made privacy rules for phones and cable television in the past, but high-speed internet providers, including AT&T and Verizon Communications, were not held to any privacy restrictions, even though those behemoth companies have arguably one of the most expansive views of the habits of web users.

    The passage of the rules deal a blow to telecommunications and cable companies like AT&T and Comcast, which rely on such user data to serve sophisticated targeted advertising. The fallout may affect AT&T’s $85.4 billion bid for Time Warner, which was announced last week, because one of the stated ambitions of the blockbuster deal was to combine resources to move more forcefully into targeted advertising.

    The F.C.C. rules also have their limits. Online ad juggernauts, including Google, Facebook and other web companies, are not subject to the new regulations. The F.C.C. does not have jurisdiction over web companies. Those companies are instead required to follow general consumer protection rules enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. That means Google does not have to explicitly ask people permission first to gather web browsing habits, for example.

  • About - FreeDocumentaries.Org
    http://freedocumentaries.org/about
    http://freedocumentaries.org/uploads/media/default/0001/02/thumb_1210_default_big.jpeg

    About

    Freedocumentaries.org streams full-length documentary films free of charge, with no registration needed. For several films, we even offer the ability to watch trailers or to download the actual film.

    The films are gathered by our researchers as we scour the web for well-produced videos and present them to our viewers. We adhere to all copyright laws and honor the wishes of the producers.

    We created Freedocumentaries.org because we wanted to find an easy way to bring thought-provoking, educational, and entertaining documentaries to anyone with a high-speed internet connection. We believe that the mainstream media increasingly practices self-censorship, and that it ignores many opinions and historical events. With the media distorting or ignoring information, it’s often very hard to get an accurate picture of a problem, even while watching the news. Sites like Freedocumentaries.org are a much-needed counterbalance to corporate media: an industry dominated by special interests. Even though every dollar we make via advertising or donations is critical, we do not let any advertisers have any influence over which films we play. We would rather lose that money than lose our independence. And the fact that we won’t shy away from controversial films is one of the things that makes us unique.

    While some of the films on our site have widespread distribution, others are created by independent filmmakers who depend on sites like ours to get their information to the public. The amount of work that these producers have put into making a 90-minute film is astounding. Different films create different reactions among different people.

    There will be aspects of the films in which you may disagree or agree. After watching you may cry, become inspired, or you may get angry; in any case the films will get you thinking. We are proud that in the last two years, we have helped share these films with countless people that would not have seen the movies otherwise. We believe that we have made the world just a little better by doing so.

    We are proud to help these independent filmmakers. We encourage you to visit their website and donate so that they can continue creating great films. If you haven’t done so yet, please watch a film. And if you enjoy the experience, tell your friends!

  • Surprise: giving ISPs everything they want hasn’t created a broadband paradise:
    http://bgr.com/2014/02/21/comcast-time-warner-cable-merger-criticism

    “The utterly consistent position from the ISPs has been this: Guarantee us a higher income stream from a more concentrated market, and we’ll build out new infrastructure to reach more Americans with high-speed Internet,” he writes. “A decade ago, this argument had at least the benefit of being untested. Now things are much simpler: We know that the ISPs’ argument has been wrong”

    #Internet #ISP #telecom #regulation #market #mergers #infrastructure #competition

  • Moyers & Company Show 205: Who’s Widening America’s Digital Divide?
    http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/moyers-and-company-show-205-whos-widening-americas-digital-divide

    February 8, 2013

    America has a wide digital divide — high-speed Internet access is available only to those who can afford it, at prices much higher and speeds much slower in the U.S. than they...

  • Waste Is Seen in Program to Give Internet Access to Rural U.S. - NYTimes.com
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/technology/waste-is-seen-in-program-to-give-internet-access-to-rural-us.html?pagewante

    Aux #États-unis, on tire des #câbles n’importe comment dans certaines zones rurales

    Rural areas certainly suffer a lack of high-speed Internet access. While about 88 percent of urban households in the United States have access to high-speed #cable Internet service, only 40 percent of rural households do, according to the Federal Communications Commission and the Commerce Department.

    About 20 percent of United States households have access to #fiber optic Internet service, the fastest connection, compared with 86 percent in Japan and two-thirds in South Korea. But the Eagle-Net experience in Colorado demonstrates that in the haste to get broadband everywhere, some grant planners appeared not to have taken into account the current condition of #infrastructure.

  • Speeding up Internet in Lebanon – Kippreport.com
    http://www.kippreport.com/2011/10/speeding-up-internet-in-lebanon

    Lebanon has long had the physical capacity to supply cheap, high-speed Internet to the country and in December 2010 a 13,000km IMEWE (India- Middle East- Western Europe) submarine fiber optic cable, which linked Lebanon as far east to India and west to France, became operational.

    But Lebanon delayed access to the cable until July after internal bickering between the Ministry of Telecommunications and Ogero, the government’s land-line provider, over rights to tenures.

    The deadlocks are considered politically motivated, as the Ministry and Ogero are each controlled by opposing sides of Lebanon’s deep political divide based on sect and ideology.