Re: Shovel-ready broadband stimulus

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Mike Todd" <miketodd () miketodd com>
Date: May 7, 2009 12:05:12 PM EDT
To: <dave () farber net>
Subject: Re: [IP] Shovel-ready broadband stimulus

Dwayne,

I am hoping your much more workable approach gets some reasonable  
chance of becoming a reality.

Even though the technical aspects do not seem to have a prayer of  
having a chance of providing some reason to the process, getting it  
out of the hands of "big money", "big government" and the "political  
playground" would, at the very least, be a step in a much better  
direction!

Mike Todd
President, Mike Todd Associates - www.MikeTodd.com

President, Internet Society Los Angeles Chapter - www.ISOC-LA.org
toddm () isoc-la org

Founder, Digital Divide Task Force, www.ddtf.org (undergoing updates)
miketodd () ddtf org

Western Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (Western TAAC)
Phoenix, Arizona program expansion center
Western Research Application Center, Viterbi School of Engineering,
University of Southern California

----- Original Message ----- From: "David Farber" <dave () farber net>
To: "ip" <ip () v2 listbox com>
Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 08:14
Subject: [IP] Shovel-ready broadband stimulus


> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
> Date: May 6, 2009 2:21:54 PM EDT
> To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Shovel-ready broadband stimulus
>
> SHOVEL-READY BROADBAND STIMULUS
>
> [Commentary] The $7.2 billion broadband stimulus will not achieve  
> what  it advertises for the US economy. Firms that had been building  
> rural  broadband networks have reportedly halted operations,  
> circling back to  Washington. Ultimately, the $7.2bn will be awarded  
> in "beauty  contests," where bureaucrats examine competing proposals  
> and make  their picks based on their values, mood, and whim. A group  
> of 71  economists expert in telecommunications policy, including two  
> Nobel  Laureates (and this author), have urged a different approach,  
> "reverse  auctions." The government would state its performance  
> criteria and  then take bids, selecting the lowest price offers. The  
> proposal has  only a remote chance of being adopted because it is  
> both transparent  and economical. Having to make goals objective and  
> explicit takes the  discretionary political fun away. And assigning  
> rights by competitive  bidding is like having a fraternity party  
> without any beer at all.
>
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