Copper can only carry so much bandwidth, far less than what the modern internet demands. Only fiber optic cables, thick twists of ultra-thin glass or plastic filaments that allow data to travel at the speed of light, can handle that bandwidth.

Perhaps it’s a matter of semantics. Is it “more” regulation to allow more people to access poles and rights of way, or is it “less”? In my mind we have regulation that prevents small ISPs (or even big ISPs) from competing in any given area as pointed out in the article you linked. I want to remove the blockers that…

You need to learn to not be a smart-ass. The Federal Government tried to get ISPs reclassified as telecomm under Title 2. In theory, that would have allowed more competition because it mandates that poles have to be shared and rights of way have to be shared. I say, in theory, because it appears that the State can…

If you think we have competition then you’re fooling yourself. I agree, the government should make it attractive for companies to build out infrastructure for the betterment of the people. But, what the government has given us is a virtual monopoly.

You apparently can’t understand what other people write. I think I made it clear that the reason for not going into rural areas was that it wasn’t financially attractive. What part of that didn’t you understand?

Making the lines or pole available wouldn’t “increase” regulation, especially if you open those lines up to more competition. Go research the Ma Bell breakup and see how they did it. You don’t have a single phone service provider and phone service is less regulated than it once was and now phone service is cheap and…

It’s not to make a call, it’s to receive one. Before cell phones there were pagers. Before pagers there were radios and before radios there were land lines. I get that there are other ways but you’re blocking the simplest method to notify people of an emergency. And, by the way, it may be a broadcast to the audience…

I’m not disagreeing with your points. However, the economics are skewed by the fact that deploying cabling for Internet service is highly controlled by state and local governments. You can’t just go into an area and start digging up the right of way and laying fiber in the ground.

You may want to read up on the REA. 

Nah, it’s just me Common Business Sense. You say they are greedy, but not greedy enough to build out infrastructure so they could charge more people more money. Hmm, seems a bit counter intuitive.

Since you have nothing but insults to offer, go fuck yourself. If they were so greedy, why wouldn’t they build out more infrastructure so they could go after more customers? And since they are in a rural area they could charge more. What you fail to understand is that not just anyone can go into an area and drop…

Not everyone in the US has access to the internet, and that’s largely because the internet service providers that govern these systems are money-hungry, discriminatory, and, frankly, evil.

Not entirely. That article is a bit lacking in details. The picture of the one guy says he was defending against a hydroelectric project. Now hydro power doesn’t sound particularly environmentally unfriendly so I’m wondering what he was defending against? I can understand if they were going to flood the valley where…

So you would risk someone’s life just so someone else can’t use their phone? I get that it’s annoying when someone whips out their phone in a movie but some people might have a legit reason, they could be on-call, they could be emergency personnel or first responders who need to get that message or call if needed.

I know what a jammer is, I have a degree in electrical engineering with a specialty in radio frequency design. The statement I posted from the FCC site seems a little ambiguous as they use the terms, block, jam or interfere. If your Faraday cage is preventing my reception of a signal I’d say that’s interference.

But they have jurisdiction over your blocking those signals. Whether a Faraday cage violates that isn’t fully clear based on what I’ve read.

No, there is no guarantee, but this is taking proactive measures to block cellular signals so I wonder how “legal” that is.

The FCC site states

I’m  not so sure it’s legal. I’ve had a hard time finding something specific from the FCC that calls out Faraday cages. And I wonder what the liability is, you blocked an emergency incoming call. I’m sure the lawyers would have a grand old time over that. 

This title is misleading, but I’ve come to expect that from Giz. Not all of these people are “defending THE environment”. Most of them, as you pointed out, are defending their lands against some sort of take over which may or may not have any impact on THE environment. You are lumping people who are defending their…