THE WAR ON INFORMATION POVERTY: Progressive Group calls on Congress to Combat Digital Divide

Congress Needs to Address the Digital Divide - 2005

by Mark Lloyd, Center for American Progress

In 1995 the National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the Department of Commerce (NTIA) issued its first comprehensive report on the access of all Americans to advanced telecommunications services. “Falling Through the Net: A Survey of the 'Haves' and 'Have Nots' in Rural and Urban America” documented a disturbing disparity in access to computers and the Internet. In 1998, NTIA called its report “Falling Through the Net II: New Data on the Digital Divide.” The term “digital divide” proved very useful in drawing attention to the problem of inequality in an America increasingly dependent upon information technology. And in 1996, Congress established policy to monitor the access of all Americans to advanced communications technology and required all telecommunications companies to contribute to a fund that would help bridge the gap between the “information haves” and the “information have-nots.”

Those seem like the good old days...

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