New York Public Library to offer free Wi-Fi to needy users | New York Post

New York Public Library to offer free Wi-Fi to needy users

By Lia Eustachewich

July 1, 2014 | 5:03am

Modal Trigger

The South main reading room in The New York Public Library.
Photo: Lorenzo Ciniglio

New York public libraries will soon lend out Wi-Fi hot spots to low-income members who can’t afford Internet at home.




Beginning in September, residents will be able to rent Wi-Fi devices
for up to a year from New York Public Library branches in areas with
low-Internet connectivity.




But the free Wi-Fi won’t be available to everybody. Only those
enrolled in the library’s adult-learning or after-school programs can
borrow a device.




“We see a definite need in our branches — people

 don’t have Wi-Fi at
home. They depend on us for their broadband,” said library spokeswoman
Angela Montefinise.




The “Check Out the Internet” program will be paid for with a $500,000
grant from the Knight Foundation and through library fund-raising.
NYPL, which has branches in Manhattan, The Bronx and Staten Island,
hopes to purchase 10,000 Wi-Fi devices.

Filed underNew York Public Library, WiFi

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Schools Should Be Teaching Kids How to Use the Internet Well - Abigail Walthausen - The Atlantic

Randy Snyder/AP Photo

During this year’s State of the Union
address, President Obama championed the goal of increasing bandwidth in
schools across the country. The following day, a group of CEOs wrote an open letter encouraging
the chairman of the FCC to “act boldly to modernize the E-rate program
to provide the capital needed to upgrade our K-12 broadband connectivity
and Wi-Fi infrastructure.” These calls to action were answered
with pledges from business leaders amounting to $750 million dollars,
an influx of money that should help provide more enriching learning
environments for students across the country.  

As schools begin to plan for the benefits of
improved connectivity, it is important to consider the responsibility of
giving students guidance in becoming productive citizens of the web.
New curricula must acknowledge the many-headed hydra that is social
media: Its forms range from the mundane
distraction to be overcome to the 21st century communication skill to be
mastered. Integration of conscious social media use as well as policies
that provide more free and unfiltered Internet access are two ways of
modeling best practices and actively teaching Internet skills within
schools. Read more...

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Court Strikes Down FCC’s Net Neutrality Mandate

In a ruling that could have serious implications for the way Internet access is regulated in the United States, the Washington, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this morning that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does not have the authority to impose so-called ‘net neutrality’ rules on Internet service providers (ISPs).

This morning’s ruling finds that the FCC overstepped its bounds as a regulator in putting those rules in place. If the ruling stands, it would open the door for ISPs to work with content providers to provide faster access to their content, creating what some worry could become a two-tier Internet, with large providers who can afford to pay for preferential treatment forming a top tier while other online resources make do with leftover bandwidth. Read more...

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Internet Access and the New Divide - NYTimes.com

Internet Access and the New Divide - NYTimes.com

By SUSAN P. CRAWFORD

Published: December 3, 2011Correction appended.

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