Thank you Valerie for bringing this notice to the attention of the DDN. It is incredible that a small telco would be fined $20,000 for not publicizing to one reservation and yet Verizon would get "admonished" for ignoring eleven over three years. At least Qwest took the high road, paid $250,000, and promised to go to a few pow-wows <sarcasm/>. This slap on the wrist looks like it will do little to help Native communities get connected.
I don't know why it is that Aboriginal or American Indian digital divide issues get ignored, even by experts, but I have my suspicions. I was at a meeting the other day with a group of educational technology gurus and assistive technology advocates. We discussed issues for about an hour before I finally brought up the fact that nobody had invited the local Aboriginal society for people with disabilities. This despite statistics that show lower SES indicators across the board for Aboriginal people and a disability rate 1.3-7.0 times the Canadian average (depending on which study you cite - they are all higher). Everyone there genuinely seemed surprised by those numbers. I got the feeling that had I not been there by some grace of the Creator, nobody would have cared. I am not convinced it is racism, perhaps benign neglect or, dare I say in academic circles, ignorance. I suppose I will just have to "be there" whenever I can to pipe up at opportune moments. Kelvin Wong Department of Computer Science University of Victoria My Blog on Aboriginal People and Technology http://nativetech.blogspot.com/ -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Valerie Fast Horse Sent: March 8, 2005 9:30 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [DDN] Lifeline/Link-Up Violations - Order Admonishing Verizon In Order DA 05-525, the Commission admonished Verizon for violating Section 214(e)(1)(B) and the rules by failing to publicize the availability of Lifeline or Link-Up services "in a manner reasonably designed to reach those likely to qualify" for the services. The Commission found that Verizon failed adequately to publicize Lifeline or Link-Up to low-income residents of 11 tribes in its service area for a period of approximately three years. http://www.telecomlawblog.com/fcc-daily-455-lifelinelinkup-violations-or der-admonishing-verizon.html <http://www.telecomlawblog.com/fcc-daily-455-lifelinelinkup-violations-o rder-admonishing-verizon.html> FCC Memorandum Opinion and Order: http://www.fcc.gov/eb/Orders/2005/DA-05-525A1.html Verizon Gets Slap on Wrist for Failing to Publicize Lifeline and Link-Up: http://www.bennetlaw.com/rss.php#article20 <http://www.bennetlaw.com/rss.php#article20> Lifeline Link-Up Outreach http://www.fcc.gov/eb/tcd/LLUO.html ============ Valerie Fast Horse Director, IT Coeur d'Alene Tribe _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.