Internet Access

In an ambitious bid to revolutionize how consumers use the Internet, technology giant Google Inc. says it will build a network that would be 100 times faster than what is available for many users today. Entering territory tightly controlled by telecommunications carriers, Google announced Wednesday that it would build and test an experimental high-speed fiber optic network that could be available in several communities and reach as many as 500,000 people. The service could be available as early as next year, an analyst said.

SANTIAGO, Cuba — The way Cesar Cruz and his buddies see it, the "revolution of our grandparents" just doesn't cut it anymore. The 19-year-old student and his friends gather every Saturday in leafy Cespedes Park in the shadow of Santiago de Cuba's cathedral, listening to music and sharing spins on an old scooter, and dreaming of an impossible future. "We don't have the chance to think of a better life, without misery," Cruz said. "The only option is to leave the country.

Comcast Corp.'s chief executive, Brian Roberts, was gushing last week about his company's impending takeover of NBC Universal, saying the deal would give consumers what they want, "which is access to all different types of content on different platforms and different times." That's not the half of it -- but it may not be Comcast in the driver's seat. If federal regulators have their way, the next big thing on the tech horizon will be a brave new world of Internet-ready, work-with-any-network set-top boxes, offering consumers unprecedented multimedia options through their TVs, not just their computers.

When a homeless man was accused of fondling himself in the Laguna Beach public library, the ensuing outcry was less about the alleged behavior than about the pornography the man was viewing on the Internet at the time. Some people had never realized before the November incident that libraries, originally intended as great institutions of public edification through books, could be used these days as sources for viewing porn. Others were all too aware of the issue because they had seen, in this library and others, library computers regularly used for decidedly unlofty pursuits, even when there were children around who could easily see the screens.

Robert Hahn's Nov. 29 commentary, "Let the Market Control Faster Access to the Internet," reveals the specious arguments of those who insist that "open access" is the only way to prevent a cable monopoly of the Internet. Access to the Internet can be achieved by a number of means--cable, digital subscriber lines, satellite or traditional dial-up phone lines. Proponents of open access--funded mainly by Baby Bells, GTE and America Online--know this full well; yet they cynically manipulate the public in order to slow down the cable competition until they can roll out their DSL. As Hahn points out, the phone companies have had this technology for years but didn't implement it until broadband cable came on the market.

Robert Scheer got it wrong when he accused AOL of wanting it both ways regarding government intervention in the Internet (Column Left, July 27). In the very near future consumers will be using broadband services to connect to the Internet. Decisions made today about broadband connections will have far-reaching implications for the future shape of the Internet. Whether broadband access and architecture are open and competitive or closely controlled by a cable monopoly will affect whether free and diverse speech continues to thrive, whether noncommercial and civic content is accessible, whether local e-commerce is sustainable and the cost, availability and service choices for consumers.

In the battle over high-speed Internet services, the term "open access" has returned to the Los Angeles lexicon. Today, City Councilman Alex Padilla will announce what may be the best method yet for preventing cable companies' monopoly power over who can use their technology. Padilla's proposal would give the city plenty of time--18 months--to respond to the results of a number of legal battles on the issue.

Explorer Communication, a Simi Valley producer of computer fax-modem systems, has joined forces with a San Jose company to provide Internet access to laptop computer users. The agreement calls for Explorer to combine its fax-modem cards with the software of the Northern California firm, NETCOM On-Line Communication Services Inc. The deal marks a marketing departure for Explorer, which previously sold its products largely through mail-order merchants.

As Janice Keson scanned a World Wide Web page, she was shocked to see the names of her daughter's killers, seeking pen pals on death row. Now Keson and her husband, Mark, are campaigning to ban Internet access by inmates and educate the public about the practice. Keson was looking one day at a Web page for James A. Heard, who lists names and addresses of fellow prison inmates at his site. Gerald Cruz and James Beck, her daughter's killers, were among them.

Federal regulators allowed AT&T Inc. to withdraw its proposed $39-billion takeover of T-Mobile USA from their approval process, but they also dealt a further blow to the teetering deal. The Federal Communications Commission released a 157-page report Tuesday detailing the agency's staff findings that the purchase was not in the public interest. The staff report concluded that the combination of two of the nation's largest wireless providers — AT&T ranks second in subscribers and T-Mobile is fourth — would harm competition through "an unprecedented increase in market concentration.

If you have small children, a full-time job and an interest in keeping up fashionable appearances - prepare for some bad news: The era of sneaking in some online shopping at work may be coming to an end. A recent survey by Robert Half Technology, a company that helps businesses find information technology professionals, found that 60% of more than 1,400 chief information officers interviewed said their companies block access to online shopping...

The Senate voted to keep in place federal rules aimed at preserving open Internet access for online users, but hurdles still loom for the controversial policy. The so-called net neutrality regulations, enacted last year by the Federal Communications Commission, face a legal challenge from Verizon Communications Inc. and other opponents in a court that overturned the agency's last attempt to deal with the issue. "Net neutrality lives or dies depending on what the court does," said Jeffrey Silva, a telecommunications analyst with Medley Global Advisors.

The Federal Communications Commission is launching a $4-billion program to narrow the digital divide by making high-speed Internet access and computers more affordable for more than 25 million mainly low-income Americans. The FCC said a public-private partnership, which includes major broadband and computer companies and nonprofits, will make "the biggest effort ever" across the nation to help poorer citizens as well as rural residents, seniors and minorities obtain broadband access.

Every day, Teresa DiFalco's children clamor for her iPhone. The kids, ages 9 and 11, use the smart phone and DiFalco's iPod Touch to play such games as Angry Birds and Zombie Farm. Around the nation, other kids are doing the same, either on their own or on their parents' mobile devices, such as smart phones, iPads and other tablets. But to the alarm of some parents, these mobile devices can do far more than enable their children to send text messages and play games. The gadgets are powerful little computers that can access the Internet in all its tastelessness.

Steve Robin works out of his La Crescenta home as a real estate investor and property manager. He relies on AT&T for his phone line, fax line, broadband Internet connection and TV service. So it wasn't a very ho-ho-ho moment when Robin, 50, became one of thousands of AT&T customers statewide who lost service Christmas Day as a series of powerful storms clobbered California. His frustration grew as the days passed and the only thing AT&T service reps could tell him was that technicians were on the case.

If you could take broadband Internet with you, where would you take it? To an airport, a coffee shop or ? this being Los Angeles ? the beach, where you can surf the Net while watching surfers ride the waves? Results of recent testing of Clear's new 4G mobile Internet device were, like its coverage area, a little patchy. The walnut-sized gadget that plugs into a laptop's USB port allows users to swap between 4G and 3G Internet service. But the 4G coverage was lacking in some key areas of Los Angeles County.

Cellphone giant Verizon Wireless said Sunday that it would refund more than $50 million to about 15 million customers nationwide who were mistakenly charged for data usage or Internet access they didn't order. Most users will receive refunds of $2 to $6, although some customers will get larger amounts, the Basking Ridge, N.J., company said in a statement. Current customers will receive credits on monthly bills. Former customers will get checks in the mail. Those receiving refunds will be notified this month and in November.