Free Federal Wireless Broadband For All Americans? Fuggedaboutit!
The United States government is not going to be providing free WiFi Internet access to consumers anytime soon. That news may surprise anyone who read a startling Washington Post story on Sunday that seemed to confuse a fairly esoteric telecom policy proposal about the use of so-called “white space” wireless spectrum with some sort of free national wireless Internet access plan. The “free WiFi for all” story, which was passed around uncritically by Internet blogs and news sites, set off a furor because the notion cuts to the heart of ongoing battles over access to the Internet, the “digital divide,” and federal policy decisions that could have major implications for the telecom, cable, and technology industries. But the story was wrong, as Ars Technica pointed out. On Tuesday, outlets that repeated the bunk story began walking their reports back, in some cases apologizing for giving bad information to the public. The episode, which provoked a strong pushback from tech ...
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Facebook ‘Friends’ Apple and Takes a Shot at Google
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made it crystal clear Wednesday that the social networking juggernaut has a better working relationship with hardware giant Apple than it does with Web search leader Google. The 28-year-old billionaire said his company is working closely with Apple on applications for new mobile products. Google? Not so much. “Our relationship with Google isn’t one where the companies really talk,” Zuckerberg told Wall Street analysts in a startling disclosure on the conference call following the company’s earnings report. By contrast, Zuckerberg spoke highly of his counterparts at Apple. “I’m really happy with the partnership we have with them,” he said. With those comments, Zuckerberg laid down a marker in the escalating battle for Internet advantage between Facebook, Apple, and Google. The chips are now on the table; the war is on. Facebook recently launched a heavily-publicized new search product, which could pit the company against search leader Google. Facebook ...
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