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Daily Archives: May 28, 2014

Community Fiber in Washington, D.C., Seattle, and San Francisco

Fiber by cities: Washington DC, San Francisco, Seattle May 28, 2014 by susan crawford

Developments and Lessons Learned – “This report provides detailed accounts of planning carried out in connection with community fiber networks in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, CA, and Seattle, WA. It includes information about existing fiber assets that the cities identified, funding mechanisms that were considered, and roadblocks that were encountered. Our hope is that this report will be helpful to other cities that are considering launching fiber optic networks.  Key Findings

  • The cities profiled in this report have each approached the question of community fiber differently.
  • Washington, D.C. made concessions and arrangements that allowed it to build a robust public-safety-quality fiber network, but limitations on the use of that network have made it unavailable to residents and businesses. Additionally, prices charged non-profits for use of the network are currently too high to be competitive with incumbent products.
  • San Francisco has been highly innovative in expanding fiber to public housing, aggressively leasing dark fiber to community anchor institutions such as libraries and schools, and ensuring free public Wi-Fi, but has not yet cracked the nut of alternative community residential or business fiber access.
  • Seattle has had an extensive city fiber loop in place since 1986, but regulations limiting use of poles and approvals for cabinets have slowed the rollout of competitive last-mile service. Seattle’s recent negative experience with Gigabit Squared (which was unable to execute on its last-mile promises and subsequently vanished from the scene) casts a shadow. Seattle’s current mayor appears to be determined to ameliorate both the regulatory burdens and the information asymmetries that have dogged the city.”

Internet Trends 2014 – Code Conference

Slides: Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report for 2014 (PDF version) – [snipped] – “High Level User / Usage Trend • Internet Users <10% Y/Y growth & slowing…fastest growth in more difficult to monetize developing markets like India / Indonesia / Nigeria • Smartphone Subscribers +20% strong growth though slowing…fastest growth in underpenetrated markets like China / India… Continue Reading

Free Speech Groups Issue New Guide to International “Necessary & Proportionate Principles”

News release: “As the global debate over the intelligence programs revealed by Edward Snowden approaches its first anniversary, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and ARTICLE 19 today published a new legal analysis of the Necessary & Proportionate Principles, a guiding framework for countries to apply international human rights law to communications surveillance. Currently, there are few legal… Continue Reading

DHS Privacy Complaints Increase in 2013, Many Databases Kept Secret

EPIC – “The Department of Homeland Security Quarterly Report to Congress details programs and databases affecting privacy. According to the agency, DHS received 964 privacy complaints between September 1, 2013 and November 30, 2013. By contrast, DHS received 295 privacy complaints during the same period in 2011. According to the report, most DHS systems complies with Privacy Act notice… Continue Reading

Restoring Accountability for Labor Standards in Outsourced Work

National Employment Law Project – WHO’S THE BOSS: – Restoring Accountability for Labor Standards in Outsourced Work. Catherine Ruckelshaus, Rebecca Smith, Sarah Leberstein, Eunice Cho. May 2014. “Business outsourcing is on the rise, through practices such as multi-layered contracting, use of staffing or temp firms, franchising, misclassifying employees as independent contractors, and other means. The label on a worker’s… Continue Reading

Report collects and analyses data on cycling fatalities

Outside Magazine – “Why and how do cyclists die on the road? What’s the fallout? Who’s to blame, and how bad are the consequences? The League of American Bicyclists collected information on cycling fatalities from February 2011 to February 2013, and has released the most detailed analysis of these tragedies currently available as part of its Every Bicyclist Counts initiative. The National Highway Traffic… Continue Reading

Crisis Standards of Care – Institute of Medicine

“Catastrophic disasters occurring in 2011 in the United States and worldwide–from the tornado in Joplin, Missouri, to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, to the earthquake in New Zealand–have demonstrated that even prepared communities can be overwhelmed. In 2009, at the height of the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports – 2013 Sequestration, Lobbying Disclosure, Emergency Transportation Relief, Surface Transportation

  EMERGENCY TRANSPORTATION RELIEF: Agencies Could Improve Collaboration Begun during Hurricane Sandy Response, GAO-14-512: Published: May 28, 2014. Publicly Released: May 28, 2014. 2013 LOBBYING DISCLOSURE: Observations on Lobbyists’ Compliance with Disclosure Requirements, GAO-14-485: Published: May 28, 2014. Publicly Released: May 28, 2014. 2013 SEQUESTRATION: Selected Federal Agencies Reduced Some Services and Investments, While Taking Short-Term Actions to Mitigate Effects, GAO-14-452: Published: May… Continue Reading

Federal pain research database launched

“The Interagency Pain Research Portfolio (IPRP), a database that provides information about pain research and training activities supported by the federal government, has been launched by six federal agencies. Pain is a symptom of many disorders; chronic pain can present as a disease in of itself. The economic cost of pain is estimated to be hundreds of billions… Continue Reading

How Millennials Could Upend Wall Street and Corporate America – Brookings

“Among the many eye-popping findings in Morley Winograd and Mike Hais’ new paper on the millennial generation is that their attitudes towards the banking industry make it number one on a list of industries likely to experience severe disruption in its business model in the future. Their paper, the third is a series of Brookings’ papers on 21st Century… Continue Reading