The great digital divide that President Obama repeatedly has pledged to fix could grow even wider, after a recent federal court ruling put the presidents promise of leveling the tech playing field in jeopardy. The concern comes ahead of his annual State of the Union address on Tuesday. Last year, the president pitched a plan aimed at making sure 99 percent of students across the country would receive access to high-speed broadband and wireless Internet at their schools within the next five years. During his 2011 State of the Union address, he stressed the need to upgrade all Americans. This isnt just about faster Internet or fewer dropped calls, Obama said at the time. Its about connecting every part of America to the digital age. But on Jan. 14, a federal appeals court struck down the Federal Communications Commissions Open Internet Order pertaining to so-called net neutrality. The decision paves the way for Internet service providers to potentially block any website or app of their choosing. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., called the net neutrality ruling a major setback that threatens access to the Internet as we know it. The court ruled that because of a quirk in how the government regulates Internet service providers, the FCC didnt have the legal basis for its own policy. The decision cripples the regulatory agencys ability to enforce net neutrality, which is based on the founding principle that the Internet enables and protects free speech. That means ISPs could technically censor the sites its customers visit. The ruling also could allow Internet companies to create a tiered pricing system for certain types of online traffic, akin to how people purchase premium channels like HBO or Showtime at an extra cost by their cable providers. Manorama Talaiver, director of the Institute for Teaching through Technology & Innovation Practices at Longwood University in Virginia, says rural students could be among the hardest hit.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 07:18:02 +0000