Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

["christian stalberg" <cstalberg AT web-analysts.net>]

>From a Facebook group for those of us who aren't on Facebook:

> Friends:
>
> Sen. David Hoyle will bring his S.1209 bill (the 
> anti-municipal-broadband bill) to a vote this week, possibly 
> Wednesday. If this bill passes, public-private partnerships like 
> Google Fiber are doomed in North Carolina. Federal broadband stimulus 
> dollars will be barred from bridging the digital divide in our state. 
> In short, we'll be stuck with slow broadband and our embarrassing rank 
> of 41st in the country for broadband service.
>
> But there's still time. Please call your state senator TODAY and urge 
> them to oppose S.1209. Only if our representatives hear from us will 
> we keep our broadband options open.
>
> Jay Ovittore of Stop The Cap has a great write up about what's at 
> stake and includes contact information for the senators involved:
>
http://stopthecap.com/2010/05/24/action-alert-stop-sen-hoyles-anti-municipal
-broadband-bill-in-north-carolina/
>
> A little push now can go a LONG way. Thanks for your efforts!
>
> Mark Turner
> Bring Google Fiber to Raleigh

There is also a great list on Jay's page with the names, phone numbers 
and e-mail addys of the Senators. We must stop this NOW! 

Let your Senators know that a vote for Hoyle's bill will keep NC 41st or 
worse in Internet access, stifle economic development. Remember Jim 
Hunt's "information superhighway"? Well Hoyle's bill is forcing folks 
like me in Raleigh to get onto the highway in a Ford Model T while we 
should be driving fuel-efficient and faster hybrids. For those 
communities that aren't served by a private company like Time-Warner 
(because they can't squeeze out the sort of numbers or rates needed to 
pay their fat-cat CEOs the salaries they so "richly" deserve), they are 
keeping those communities in the horse-drawn buggies and won't even let 
a community - or Google - build them an on-ramp. 

Why is this? Because Time Warner and the other companies claim they 
can't compete, and because municipalities don't pay taxes. Well, I'd 
like to see Time Warner's tax form - to see just how much that company 
pays in taxes to the State. If they are like most modern American 
companies, you know they got accountants and tax lawyers to cook the 
books so they make a profit but pay no taxes. Or worse, they don't show 
a profit to the stockholders, but the CEO still makes his bonus because 
they have cleared some hurdle. 

[ from Chris Telesca on Democracy4NC ]