Re:Washington state removes all barriers to municipal broadband
by toomuchtodo on Sunday May 16, 2021 @02:07PM
(#27175691)
With regards to legislation repealing restrictions and enabling muni networks, it’s like marijuana legalization. You keep throwing it on the ballot each election cycle until it sticks from cohort turnover. Some states turn over faster than others.
Re:Washington state removes all barriers to municipal broadband
by kingsuper20 on Sunday May 16, 2021 @03:01PM
(#27176080)
Does 'prohibitively difficult' mean that towns aren't allowed to put in networks? or simply that it's hard to get funding from some higher level of government?
It's hard to imagine some state law that prohibits a town (or neighborhood for that matter) from building out some kind of internet access.
Re:Washington state removes all barriers to municipal broadband
by nobody9999 on Sunday May 16, 2021 @06:00PM
(#27177413)
>It's hard to imagine some state law that prohibits a town (or neighborhood for that matter) from building out some kind of internet access.
That seems more like a failure of imagination, since ALEC[0] has been writing bills for state legislators to do just that for many years.
cf. https://www.prwatch.org/news/2014/02/12385/how-alec-helps-bi...
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Legislative_Exchange_...
Re:Washington state removes all barriers to municipal broadband
by smelendez on Sunday May 16, 2021 @03:10PM
(#27176140)
Those laws absolutely exist. Usually passed by state legislatures who see it as government overreach, encouraged by the big ISPs.
Re:Washington state removes all barriers to municipal broadband
by xbar on Sunday May 16, 2021 @07:10PM
(#27178072)
Yeah! And let's ban water, too! And sewers!
Re:Washington state removes all barriers to municipal broadband
by kingsuper20 on Sunday May 16, 2021 @04:44PM
(#27176870)
Huh. That's ridiculous.
If a city can force everyone to pitch in for a library (cough homeless center), I'd think that running some wires and hooking up some gear would be a no-brainer.
- 18 states have restrictive legislation in place that make establishing community broadband prohibitively difficult.
- Five additional states (Iowa, Arkansas, Colorado, Oregon, and Wyoming) have other types of roadblocks in place that make establishing networks more difficult than it needs to be.
- A further five states (Arkansas, Idaho, Tennessee, Washington, and Montana) have introduced bills to remove municipal broadband restrictions so far this year. Montana’s bill has failed, while Arkansas’ passed in February.