FCC OKs Public Use Of School Computers
To achieve its goal of wider Internet access, the FCC Thursday took the unusual step of permitting schools to let the public use their federally-funded computer terminals for personal use, CongressDaily reported. Such public access, which the agency unanimously approved during its monthly meeting, would be permitted during after-school hours, weekends, holidays and summer breaks at each school's discretion.
But school doors only would be open to the public until June 30, 2011 unless the initiative is made permanent. The action was approved in conjunction with the FCC's upcoming national broadband plan, which will detail a strategy for achieving universal, affordable Internet access by 2020. Under the approach, schools that receive federal universal service funds that pay for education-related broadband connectivity could use the resources to assist the general population.
"These connections will be available to adults taking evening digital literacy courses, to unemployed workers looking for jobs posted online, to citizens using e-government services and for other uses that local schools believe will help their communities," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said. To read more, click here. (Subscription required.)
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