Cybertelecom Federal Internet Law & Policy An Educational Project

Georgia

Cybercrime

GA. CODE § 16-9-92 (18) "Without authority" includes the use of a computer or computer network in a manner that exceeds any right or permission granted by the owner of the computer or computer network.

§ 16-9-93.  Computer crimes defined; exclusivity of article; civil remedies; criminal penalties
    (a)  Computer theft. Any person who uses a computer or computer network with knowledge that such use is without authority and with the intention of:
    (1) Taking or appropriating any property of another, whether or not with the intention of depriving the owner of possession;
    (2) Obtaining property by any deceitful means or artful practice; or
    (3) Converting property to such person's use in violation of an agreement or other known legal obligation to make a specified application or disposition of such property

shall be guilty of the crime of computer theft.

(b)  Computer Trespass. Any person who uses a computer or computer network with knowledge that such use is without authority and with the intention of:
    (1) Deleting or in any way removing, either temporarily or permanently, any computer program or data from a computer or computer network;
    (2) Obstructing, interrupting, or in any way interfering with the use of a computer program or data; or
    (3) Altering, damaging, or in any way causing the malfunction of a computer, computer network, or computer program, regardless of how long the alteration, damage, or malfunction persists

shall be guilty of the crime of computer trespass.

Municipal Broadband

• Adel | Wifi | 5300 k | 7.9 sq mi |
• Atlanta| The Cloud at Athens | Vendors - Airpath, Biltmore
  • Atlanta unwired, Muni 12/14/2004
• Calhoun
• City of Covington
• Dalton: Optilink : Fiber : Pop 27,900
  • Dalton Utilities, Embracing Innovation for More Than a Century
• Doerun
• Decatur
  • Decatur, Georgia seeks ISP to run municipal wireless network, Muniwireless 10/30/2006
• City of Fairburn
• Fort Valley Utility Commission
• Houston County
  • Houston County, Georgia, (pop. 120,000) has invested $702,000 for the first year of its wireless network and expects to invest $340,500 for each additional year of the network’s service. - The Need to Permit Broadband from Public Entities, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School, p. 51 (May 2006) PDF
  • pop 120k | 377 sq mi | Wholesale Wifi
• [Marietta] Power
  • No MuniB existed in Marietta contrary to reports. A muni fiber intranet was sold in 2004]. Ben Scott, Telco Lies and the Truth About Municipal Broadband Networks Free Press p. 10 April 2005
  • Sold operations in July 2004 to American Fiber Systems, for $11 million, or a $24 million loss - Municipal Broadband: Digging Beneath the Surface, Balhoff & Rowe, LCC, p. 34 (Sept. 2005)
• Newnan water sewage and light commission

VoIP

Internet phones peachy in Georgia?, CNET 10/27/2003

• PSC Commissioner Stan Wise Keynotes March 16 Policy Briefing Luncheon, Georgia Public Policy Foundation May 10, 2004 (Stan Wise, president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and a member of the Georgia Public Service Commission...warned Congress that states could lose $13 billion a year if they are unable to tax the emerging Voice-Over-Internet Protocol (VOIP)... testified on NARUC's support of VoIP regulation)
• Telecom / IT Policy Highlights 4.01 December 2003 - January 2004 GCATT
• The Testimony of The Honorable Stan Wise  President, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Before Senate Commerce Committee Feb. 24, 2004 ("resolved... that the FCC should confirm its tentative decision that certain phone-to-phone calls over IP networks are telecommunications services")

Trials and Market Deployment

• AT&T Trials 8.5 VoIP, The Digest May 21, 1998 (VoIP trial in Atlanta)