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Rob Berger reports on Dewayne-Net Technology List that a Salon article entitled, Free American Broadband!, when it first appeared on October 17, had the following sub-title:

Coddled corporate giants make broadband in the U.S. slower and more expensive than elsewhere. But Community Internet projects -- and a competitive market -- offer a solution.

It disappeared! It was replaced with a much more boring lead-in . . . something about France.

*** UPDATE: Read the whole article free here. Thanks, Esme! ***

The article is in Salon Premium, so, in the event that you don't subscribe, here are the first few paragraphs:

Next time you sit down to pay your cable-modem
or DSL bill, consider this: Most Japanese consumers can get an
Internet connection that's 16 times faster than the typical
American DSL line for a mere $22 per month.

Across the globe, it's the same story. In France, DSL service
that is 10 times faster than the typical United States
connection; 100 TV channels and unlimited telephone service cost
only $38 per month. In South Korea, super-fast connections are
common for less than $30 per month. Places as diverse as
Finland, Canada and Hong Kong all have much faster Internet
connections at a lower cost than what is available here. In
fact, since 2001, the U.S. has slipped from fourth to 16th in
the world in broadband use per capita. While other countries are
taking advantage of the technological, business and education
opportunities of the broadband era, America remains lost in
transition.

How did this happen? Why has the U.S. fallen so far behind the
rest of its economic peers? The answer is simple. These nations
all have something the U.S. lacks: a national broadband policy,
one that actively encourages competition among providers,
leading to lower consumer prices and better service.

Instead, the U.S. has a handful of unelected and unaccountable
corporate giants that control our vital telecommunications
infrastructure. This has led not only to a digital divide
between the U.S. and the rest of the advanced world but to one
inside the U.S. itself. Currently, broadband services in America
remain unavailable for many living in rural and poorer urban
areas, and remain slow and expensive for those who do have
access.

Technorati Tags: Broadband, Broadband-per-capita, USLosingLead