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Paul,<br>
<br>
I was looking through the Society's mission statement for something
that indicated a desire to promote universal service; and that
bullet point in conjunction with the "internet is for everyone"
vision seemed to cover it. But perhaps universal service is not part
of ISOC's mission.<br>
<br>
Be that as it may, to my mind universal service should be a
fundamental part of the New York Internet Society's mission. But if
it's not, we residents need another organization to lead in
achieving that important task. <br>
<br>
Best,<br>
<br>
Tom Lowenhaupt<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 12/20/2012 4:32 PM, Paul Brigner
wrote:<br>
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<div>I don't think many would suggest ISOC-NA is not serving as
"a focal point for cooperative efforts to promote the Internet
as a positive tool to benefit all people throughout the world."
Of course, there is always more to do and more issues to cover.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate;
border-spacing: 0px; ">Best regards,<br>
Paul Brigner<br>
<br>
Regional Bureau Director, North America<br>
Internet Society<br>
<br>
"The Internet is for Everyone"<br>
<br>
<br>
</span>
</div>
<br>
<div>
<div>On Dec 20, 2012, at 4:27 PM, Thomas Lowenhaupt <<a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:toml@communisphere.com">toml@communisphere.com</a>>
wrote:</div>
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<div text="#000000" bgcolor="#CCCCCC"> Dave,<br>
<br>
"The Internet is for everyone" is the Internet Society's <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.internetsociety.org/who-we-are/mission">vision</a>.
And bullet 7 of its Mission explains that to achieve this
vision the Society,<br>
<ul>
<li>Serves as a focal point for cooperative efforts to
promote the Internet as a positive tool to benefit all
people throughout the world.</li>
</ul>
So what's the plan to achieve this here in the U.S.?<br>
<br>
Best,<br>
<br>
Tom Lowenhaupt<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 12/20/2012 2:51 PM, Dave
Burstein wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAAUuzMTU02n9M_N75+7L-y33-7zmfoY1_VUQzNLfk8nFUA9LQw@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite"><font face="verdana, sans-serif">On the NY
ISOC list, Thomas writes </font>
<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><span
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">"Here's
the vision thing. What would have happened if I'd have
said</span><br
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">something
like,</span><br
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<br
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
* ISOC-NY advocates for universal access to a quality
Net experience</span><br
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
for every New Yorker. We believe every resident
should have Internet</span><br
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
access with enough speed that it enables them to
fully participate</span><br
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<span
style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:12.800000190734863px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
in deciding upon and receiving government services."</span></div>
<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">I just spent two
weeks in Dubai where ISOC had strong opinions on how
poor countries should bring down costs. I wanted to
cry out "Physician heal thyself" because the increases
in U.S. costs lately have been unconscionable.
Verizon's fees start at $55 as far as I can tell (only
1 megabit!)and for most in NYC (FiOS territory) the
minimum is over $78. The standard service at Time
Warner cable is $58. I just doublechecked those prices
with the companies.</font></div>
<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif"> That's much
higher than the $20-45 that was a common fee in years
past. Verizon by most measures is up 50-100%, Time
Warner 20%. All this at a time the cost to deliver the
service is going down. (Routers, modems, capex of the
companies, even support, as I've reported elsewhere).</font></div>
<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><br>
</font></div>
<div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">
Before that, I was at ECTA Brussels where speaker
after speaker pointed out European prices are often
half what the Americans charge for similar. That's
slightly exaggerated but the gap is clear. </span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> It's
time to start working - hard - to make sure the
Internet is affordable to Americans. Otherwise, our
advice to the Africans is hollow. </span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> How
do we turn around ISOC to start doing something about
prices going up in America.</span></div>
<div> <span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">db</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">p.s. I
cc'd this directly to Paul, North American ISOC rep.
As a former Verizon employee, he knows they are
looking to maximize profits so of course take
advantage of weak competition. He and Sally have done
a great job bringing the chapters and members into the
ISOC discussion. They also have been doing a great job
getting the telcos involved in ISOC. It's particularly
difficult for ISOS to get involved in bringing
affordability to the U.S., but that's what we need to
do.</span></div>
<br>
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