In September 1999, the state of California passed AB 116, banning commercial images in public school textbooks. AB 116 is a strong law, according to the Center for Commercial-Free Public Education. It backs up a California State Dept. of Education policy already on the books, prohibiting advertising in textbooks.… Read More
Advertisements may not come immediately before or after a program or a portion of a program which is oriented primarily to children under 12 years of age, insofar as there isn’t any question of messages addressed in § 8 [JB: § 8 deals with "unsponsored" transmissions, e.g., public service announcements].… Read More
Children and adolescents are increasingly becoming target groups for aggressive forms of marketing practices and for commercial pressure with a view to stimulate and increase their consumption. One reason for this is that they play an important role as consumers. In addition, children and adolescents have a vital role in choices concerning consumption in the family economy. At the same time, consumer goods are becoming more important factors in shaping the identities of children and youngsters. This means that minors are concerned with the symbolic value of objects and that their perception of these factors are more important than the actual functions of objects. We see too many examples of commercial interests that cynically exploit the uncertainty children and adolescents feel about their identity and self-esteem.… Read More
Nebraska is the only state in the union served entirely by public power utilities. In 2005, the Nebraska Legislature passed a law prohibiting public power utilities from selling broadband or other telecommunications services for a two year period (Legislative Bill 645). The bill also created a task force to investigate broadband access in Nebraska and the implications of allowing public entities to provide broadband. … Read More
CorpusChristi did not set out to create a citywide wireless network. Theproject arose as a logical extension of the upgrade to wirelessautomated meter reading for the city’s gas and water utilities.
In2002, the City was facing a large investment in updating its meterreading capabilities, and was actively considering privatizing itsmunicipal utilities. It was still utilizing meter readers who walkeddoor to door, a risky job with high turnover. If they couldn’t get intoa yard for any reason, they would skip the house, which was the sourceof inaccuracies. Also, the once-monthly monitoring meant system leakswere not quickly recognized and repaired.
In 1999, Fredericton (population 80,000 and the capital of New Brunswick, Canada) began building a high-speed information infrastructure. The City was looking to reduce its internal communications costs. There was no local competition. "We were paying three times the prices people in Toronto were paying," says Maurice Gallant, the City’s chief information officer. It came up with a strategy to build its own fiber optic network, and cover some of the costs by selling spare capacity to other organizations and businesses in the city.… Read More
In late-May 2005, Maine’s governor signed LD 1128, which clarifies local government authority to offer Internet services. The act also instructs the State Planning Office to study the “economic, technological and funding issues associated with municipalities providing wireless Internet services to their communities.” … Read More
A RESOLUTION APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING THE INTERNET DIVISION OF THE ELECTRIC POWER BOARD TO PROVIDE CERTAIN ADDITIONAL SERVICES.
WHEREAS,The Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, an independent board of the City of Chattanooga, (“Electric Power Board”) has developed a detailed business plan for the provision of internet services directly and through MetroNet, Incorporated; has submitted the business plan to the State Director of Local Finance; and has considered the State Director of Local Finance’s analysis of the business plan;… Read More
Loma Linda has built a publicly owned citywide fiber optic network. Originally, the city added this rule to the developer agreement but later also codified it in the Municipal Code. Any new building (or substantial re-model) must be built ready to interface with the network and meet a wiring requirement to allow the occupants to take full advantage of the network. … Read More