Ernesto Falcon
EFF
Sacramento, CA, United States
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Past articles by Ernesto:
Ending the Scourge of Redlining in Broadband Access: 2022 in Review
EFF’s first ask for the incoming Biden Administration on broadband policy was to ban digital redlining by regulating broadband as a public good instead of a private luxury. EFF has extensively researched the state of fiber broadband infrastructure in the United States for years. We’ve identified a... → Read More
California Prevails on Net Neutrality Rules
The Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of California over the large national internet service providers (ISPs), paving the way for California’s gold standard state net neutrality law to go forward. Throughout the long battle on net neutrality, from Ajit Pai’s repeal of federal net neutrality protections to state efforts to establish their own protections and all the resulting → Read More
Federal Agencies Need to Be Staffed to Advance Broadband and Tech Competition
In the U.S., we need better internet. We need oversight over Big Tech, ISPs, and other large companies. We need the federal agencies with the powers to advance competition, protect privacy, and empower consumers to be fully staffed and working. And with the new infrastructure legislation aimed at ending the digital divide by giving new responsibilities to Federal → Read More
How California’s Broadband Infrastructure Law Promotes Local Choice
The legislative session has ended and Governor Newsom is expected to sign into law S.B. 4 and A.B. 14, bills that stand as the final piece of the state’s new broadband infrastructure program. With a now- estimated $7.5 billion assembled between federal and state funds, California has the resources it needs to largely close the digital divide in the coming years. This program → Read More
No, Tech Monopolies Don’t Serve National Security
In what appears to be a “throw spaghetti on the wall approach” to stopping antitrust reform targeting Big Tech, a few Members of Congress and a range of former military and intelligence officials wrote a letter asserting that these companies need to be protected for national security. It’s a spurious argument that seeks to leverage fear of China to prevent changes desperately → Read More
The Internet Loses a Champion with the Passing of Sherwin Siy
We at EFF are devastated to learn of the passing of Sherwin Siy. He was a brilliant advocate and strategist who was dedicated to protecting and preserving the internet as a space for creativity, innovation and sharing. He was also a friend and generous mentor who shaped the present and future of... → Read More
Congress, Don’t Let ISP Lobbyists Sabotage Fiber for All
For the first time an American president has proposed a plan that wouldn’t just make a dent in the digital divide, it will end it. By deploying federal resources at the level and scale this country has not seen since electrification nearly 100 years ago, the U.S. will again connect every resident to a necessary service. Like with water and electricity, robust internet access, → Read More
AT&T’s HBO Max Deal Was Never Free
When it launched HBO Max, AT&T also announced that usage of the service would not count against the data caps of its customers, a practice known as “zero-rating.” This means that people on limited data plans could watch as much HBO Max content as they wished without incurring overage fees. AT&T just declared that it would stop this practice, citing California’s net neutrality → Read More
What the AT&T Breakup Teaches Us About a Big Tech Breakup
The multi-pronged attempt by state Attorneys General, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Trade Commission to find Google and Facebook liable for violating antitrust law may result in breaking up these giant companies. But in order for any of this to cause lasting change, we need to look to... → Read More
The U.S. Internet Is Being Starved of Its Potential: 2020 in Review
Over a year ago, EFF raised the desperate need for the United States to have a universal fiber infrastructure plan in order to ensure that all Americans can obtain access to 21st century communications technology. Since then, we’ve produced technical research showing why fiber is vastly superior to... → Read More
California Legislation to Make Significant Investments in Public Broadband
The California Legislature finished the 2020 session without doing anything to address broadband access in response to the pandemic. While the California Senate sent much-needed legislation to the Assembly, it was not allowed to move forward from there. That meant no help for the more than 1... → Read More
The FCC’s Independence and Mission Are at Stake with Trump Nominee
When there are only five people in charge of a major federal agency, the personal agenda of even one of them can have a profound impact. That’s why EFF is closely watching the nomination of Nathan Simington to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).Simington’s nomination appears to be the... → Read More
How California’s Assembly Killed The Effort to Expand Broadband for All Californians
California is facing a broadband access crisis, as parents are relying more on the Internet every day trying to keep their jobs in the midst of the pandemic while remotely educating their kids. The people of California need help, and the state should move forward now to begin the work needed to... → Read More
California’s Assembly May Do Nothing to Help on Broadband—Thanks to Big ISPs
Update: Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon has moved to table any efforts to close the digital divide this year. The pandemic has exposed how vital high-speed broadband is to the daily lives of all Californians. The Legislature must conclude all business by midnight on August 31. Call your... → Read More
California Governor Newsom's Broadband Plan Lays Important Foundation and Opens Possibilities
On August 14, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to establish a state goal of 100 mbps download speeds for all Californians, citing the 2 million Californians who lack access to high-speed broadband today. This announcement is significant, as it firmly illustrates that the state... → Read More
The American Federal Definition of Broadband Is Both Useless and Harmful
Definitions matter. Especially when those definitions come from the federal government. In the case of “broadband,” the definition set by the federal government creates our standard of Internet living. Depressingly, the American government’s definition means ISPs get away with offering very poor... → Read More
Frontier’s Bankruptcy Reveals Why Big ISPs Choose to Deny Fiber to So Much of America
Even before it announced that it would seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Frontier had a well-deserved reputation for mismanagement and abusive conduct. In an industry that routinely enrages its customers, Frontier was the literal poster-child for underinvestment and neglect, an industry leader in outages... → Read More
Why Is South Korea a Global Broadband Leader?
A universal fiber network that was completed years ago. Millions of 5G users. Some of the world’s fastest and cheapest broadband connections. South Korea has all of these, while other nations that have the same resources lag behind. How did South Korea become a global leader in the first place? EFF... → Read More
Victory! California's Legislature Pulls AT&T and Comcast Bill That Protected Their Monopolies
AT&T and Comcast lobbyists fought hard this year to pass A.B. 1366, a bill that would have protected their broadband monopolies. Thanks to your support, that bill will not move forward this year.The California legislature in 2012 decided to eliminate the authority of its own telecom regulator,... → Read More
The T-Mobile and Sprint Merger Is Blatantly Anticompetitive
There is no saving grace for the federal government approving what is on its face an illegal horizontal merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. The wireless market is already highly concentrated according to the Department of Justice’s own guidelines, and this merger only exacerbates the problem.... → Read More