WE THE PEOPLE AND THE RIGHT TO BROADBAND

摘要

The push for universal broadband to rural America could be this century's stab at rural electrification and phone service.rnEven before the calendar said 2009, the markets had dropped, pink slips had fallen like snow, and house prices had begun a long crawl downward. Many in the U.S. looked to Washington D.C. for leadership in rousing the sluggish economy and generating new jobs. The resulting stimulus package, signed into law February 17, is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, offering tax breaks, allotting money for physical infrastructure, and designating $7.2 billion for broadband build-out. This last bit-less than 1 percent of the new law's total allocation ($787 billion), has stirred controversy.