Hello, and welcome to this week’s installment of the Future in Five Questions. This week I spoke with Chris Dixon, the Andreessen Horowitz general partner and author of blockchain treatise “Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet,” which I covered in Wednesday’s edition of DFD. Fielding our weekly questionnaire, Dixon defended what he calls the “productive use of blockchains,” discussed why he thinks that a correctly arrayed set of incentives can power a better internet, and argued for clearer blockchain legislation from Congress. This conversation was edited and condensed for clarity:

What’s one underrated big idea?

The thesis of my book is that the productive use of blockchains, as opposed to the speculative use, is underrated. The internet has become increasingly consolidated, there are roughly five companies that control 95 percent of the money, traffic and flow of the internet.

SpaceX has thus far ignored a group of professional satellite dish technicians attempting to partner on Starlink installations for consumers and business.  

The technicians this week officially launched the Starlink Installers Association, with the goal of establishing a working relationship with SpaceX. However, the association is running into SpaceX's own efforts to offer professional installs at a price technicians say is too low.

"We kind of expected more from [SpaceX CEO] Elon Musk, and we kind of feel he is not directly aware of how this situation is going down,” says "Geo Tech," owner of GeoCom Communications, who spearheaded the association’s creation.

A Pennsylvania bill seeks to emulate the federal Affordable Connectivity Program by providing a $30 per month subsidy for internet costs.

Photo: Gigi Sohn speaks at Community Broadband Action Network 2024 Spring SummitThe Best of Times and The Worst of Times: The State of Public Broadband TodayThe following remarks were delivered on April 9, 2024 at the Community Broadband Action Network 2024 Spring Summit by AAPB Executive Director Gigi Sohn.Thank you, Curtis and Jon for inviting me to speak today. This is my first time in Iowa, and I am honored to be speaking in the state with the highest number of municipal broadband networks.

NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association today released the following statement from CEO Shirley Bloomfield regarding the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) draft order on net neutrality:

The FCC's net neutrality order will not require broadband providers to contribute to the Universal Service Fund, drawing criticism from advocates of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Meanwhile, a separate effort in Congress could force a vote on ACP funding.

With the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) nearing its likely demise, Comcast said it will offer several cost-saving home broadband, Wi-Fi and mobile programs to support its 1.4 million ACP recipients.

Transparency advocates say that Eric Schmidt's pursuit of “personal” connections with AI companies in China represents a concerning conflict of interest.

Leaders hope a new fiber network that will soon be under construction in Western Massachusetts will help provide relief for lower income residents by adding another choice to the local market.

"Quality internet is not a luxury in America; it is critical to education, economic opportunity, good health, and societal connection," said Reno, Nevada Mayor Hillary Schieve, the president of the U.S Conference of Mayors President.

It seems like everywhere I turn these days, there's a growing enthusiasm surrounding network APIs as the savior of 5G. I've already lived this moment throughout my career, so every time I see it, it feels like déjà vu all over again! I can still remember back in the early 2010s when I used to joke t

Starlink rival Astranis has a new satellite designed to beam over 50Gbps of internet capacity to Earth, or about five times more than the company’s current satellites.

US-based Astranis today debuted Omega, which it says is "pound-for-pound the most powerful communications satellite," for higher geostationary orbits — or about 22,000 miles above the planet, 60 times further than a typical Starlink satellite. 

AT&T is facing an avalanche of class-action lawsuits for last month's data leak, which initially appeared to ensnare as many as 73 million users. 

A week ago, we reported on one of the first class-action lawsuits stemming from the breach. But since AT&T disclosed the incident on March 30, plaintiffs have filed approximately 30 lawsuits in Texas — where the carrier is headquartered — which allege a breach of contract.

PCMag only looked through a dozen of the complaints to avoid racking up court fees. But in those we viewed, the plaintiffs called for a class-action lawsuit against AT&T, claiming that the carrier failed to safeguard customers' personal data, including phone numbers, addresses, and in some cases, Social Security numbers and dates of birth. 

This week in broadband builds: Brightspeed heads to Beaufort County, South Carolina; Surf Internet breaks ground in Michigan; Spectrum launches in multiple RDOF areas; Fidium Fiber expands in Maine – and more.

DirecTV says the Federal Communications Commission is relying on a faulty interpretation of the Communications Act in its quest to ban pay TV ‘junk fees’

More than a year after the FCC lost its auction authority, the agency has opened a proceeding on how to sidestep the problem. Now, Verizon, Federated Wireless, NCTA and others are speaking out.

Privacy-focused company DuckDuckGo is launching a tool to remove data from people-search websites, a VPN, and an identity theft restoration service.

Aidan Kohn-Murphy is using TikTok to build a Gen Z political army.

Over nearly four years, Kohn-Murphy — founder of the progressive advocacy nonprofit Gen Z for Change — has accrued 1.8 million followers on the group’s TikTok account, which posts videos on hot button political issues, from calling for a cease-fire in Gaza to keeping abortion access in Florida.

The nonprofit’s leaders create the majority of the political content and encourage their coalition of 500 creators to share the videos to their nearly half a billion followers. The goal is to get fans of the social-media app on board with a progressive policy agenda for 2024, seeking policy reforms to address climate change, immigration and education.

For activists looking to connect with a younger liberal demographic, TikTok is becoming the 21st century equivalent of a direct mailing list — a way to reach certain voters right where they live, and urge them to the polls.

Winning bids from a reverse auction in Nebraska will help fund a broadband buildout to more than 1,100 previously unserved households.

In the initial comments on RDOF Amnesty recently filed on or before March 26, 2024, various commenters ignored the “harsh economic realities” RDOF Winners now face as a result of the huge, force majeure cost increases.

These commenters argue that n

The earlier blogs in this week’s series looked at the increased demand over time for broadband speed and usage and concluded that the continued growth of broadband demand will ultimately put great stress on last-mile networks – to the point where, eventually, fiber becomes the only viable broadband technology. But what about middle-mile fiber routes?…