Cybertelecom Federal Internet Law & Policy An Educational Project

Iowa

Cybercrime

Iowa Code § 716.6B Unauthorized computer access - penalties - civil cause of action.

1. A person who knowingly and without authorization accesses a computer, computer system, or computer network commits the following:

a. An aggravated misdemeanor if computer data is accessed that contains a confidential record, as defined in section 22.7 , operational or support data of a public utility, as defined in section 476.1 , operational or support data of a rural water district incorporated pursuant to chapter 357A or 504 , operational or support data of a municipal utility organized pursuant to chapter 388 or 389 , operational or support data of a public airport, or a trade secret, as defined in section 550.2 .

b. A serious misdemeanor if computer data is copied, altered, or deleted.

c. A simple misdemeanor for any access which is not an aggravated or serious misdemeanor.

2. The prosecuting attorney or an aggrieved person may institute civil proceedings against any person in district court seeking relief from conduct constituting a violation of this section or to prevent, restrain, or remedy such a violation.

Municipal Broadband

• Cedar Falls Utilities : Cybernet : $40 / month :
  • For example, Cedar Falls Communications, a subsidiary of Cedar Falls Utilities in Iowa, has been offering broadband services over a fiber optic network since 1996. At the end of 2004, Cedar Falls Communications remained $10.5 million in debt.- The Need to Permit Broadband from Public Entities, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School, p. 50 (May 2006) PDF
  • Cedar Falls | Fiber | - Ben Scott, Telco Lies and the Truth About Municipal Broadband Networks Free Press, P. 13 April 2005
  • Cable TV, highcapacity fiber. Established 1996. Cap Investment $12.5 million - $1,000 per household. Cash per household - $0.30; ($26.00) per sub w/o refinancing debt. 2003 financial improvement driven by rate increase for 5 services. - Municipal Broadband: Digging Beneath the Surface, Balhoff & Rowe, LCC, p. 34 (Sept. 2005) (case study page 35).
• Coon Rapids Municipal Utilities
• Dayton Light and Power
• Grundy Center Municipal Light and Power
• Harlan | Harlan Net | Cable |
  • Cable TV, data, telephony. Established 1995 Capital Investment $2.7 million - $1,100/sub (low
    asset ests.) 2004 reports $176/sub due to large exp. cuts HMU Gas/Electric forgave HMU's $768,025 debt and loaned new $400,000 in 2004. - Municipal Broadband: Digging Beneath the Surface, Balhoff & Rowe, LCC, p. 34 (Sept. 2005)
• Hawarden Integrated Technology Energy and Communications
• Manning Invisible Communication Television System
• Muscatiune Power and Water
• City of Orange City
• Osage Municipal Utilities
• Sanborn - Premier Communications complains that muni entered after Premier entered market, is putting Premier out of business, and that muni is not providing service to rural community (redlining) where Premier made that commitment. Mr. Douglas A. Boone Premier, State and Local Issues and Municipal Networks Senate Commerce Committee February 14 2006
• Spencer Spencer, Iowa Municipal Utility Service
• Waverly Light and Power
• Intranets
  • Iowa Communications Network
    • "The Iowa Communications Network is a state agency that administers a statewide fiber optics network. The capacity of the Network enables authorized users such as hospitals, state and federal government, public defense armories, libraries, schools, and higher education, to communicate via high quality, full-motion video; high-speed Internet connections; and telephones." About ICN
    • Internet, Data, Video, Phone
    • Fiber
    • Timeline
      • 1994 ICN became a state agency
• Opportunity Iowa (website shut down)
• Ackley | Voted for MuniB. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• Anamosa | Voted for MuniB. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• Asbury | Voted for MuniB. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• Charles City | Voted for MuniB. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• Dubuque | Voted for MuniB. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• Hamburg | Voted for MuniB. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• Hampton | Voted for MuniB. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• Hudson | Voted for MuniB. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• Iowa Falls | Voted for MuniB. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• Lansing | Voted for MuniB. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• Lenox | Voted for MuniB. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• Maquoketa | Voted for MuniB. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• Mason City | Voted for MuniB. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• Parkersburg | Voted for MuniB. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• Waterloo | Voted for MuniB. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• Waukon | Voted for MuniB. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• West Union | Voted for MuniB. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• News
  • Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
  • Iowa communities team to install own high-speed lines, USA Today 11/12/2004
• Law:
  • Sec. 388.10 Municipal utility providing local exchange services:

  1. a.  A city that owns or operates a municipal utility providing local exchange services pursuant to chapter 476 or the municipal utility shall not do, directly or indirectly, any of the following:

  (1)  Use general fund moneys for the ongoing support or subsidy of a telecommunications system.

  (2)  Provide any city facilities, equipment, or services to provide telecommunications systems or services at a cost for such facilities, equipment, or services which is less than the reasonable cost of providing such city facilities, equipment, or services.

  (3)  Provide any other city service, other than a communications service, to a telecommunications customer at a cost which is less than would be paid by the same person receiving such other city service if the person was not a telecommunications customer.

  (4)  Use funds or revenue generated from electric, gas, water, sewage, or garbage services provided by the city for the ongoing support of that portion of a system or service used to provide local exchange services.

  • Sec. 388.2: Submission to voters.

  The proposal of a city to establish, acquire, lease, or dispose of a city utility, except a sanitary sewage or storm water drainage system, in order to undertake or to discontinue the operation of the city utility, or the proposal to establish or dissolve a combined utility system, or the proposal to establish or discontinue a utility board, is subject to the approval of the voters of the city, except that a board may be discontinued by resolution of the council when the city utility, city utilities, or combined utility system it administers is disposed of or leased for a period of over five years.

  The proposal may be submitted to the voters at any city election by the council on its own motion. Upon receipt of a valid petition as defined in section 362.4, requesting that a proposal be submitted to the voters, the council shall submit the proposal at the next regular city election.

  A proposal for the establishment of a utility board must specify a board of either three or five members.

  If a majority of those voting for and against the proposal approves the proposal, the city may proceed as proposed.

  If a majority of those voting for and against the proposal does not approve the proposal, the same or a similar proposal may not be submitted to the voters of the city for at least four years from the date of the election at which the proposal was defeated.

  • Under Iowa statutes (Title IX, Subtitle 4, Chapter § 388.2, code 2005) a municipal utility, whether providing Internet services, gas, water, or electricity, can be formed only by vote of the local community. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)
• Opponents to Iowa MuniB:
  • Mediacom and Qwest. - Opportunity Iowa: The Vote is In BroadbandProperties (Dec 2005)

VoIP

• The Iowa Utilities Board has three points for the FCC to consider.
  First, the standards and regulation of telecommunications services should be technologically neutral, that is, based on the function served rather than the equipment or protocol used.
  . . .
  If the standards and regulation of telecommunications services are not technologically neutral, then there would be different treatments for similar services and artificial advantages and disadvantages that are not market-based would be created.
  . . .
  Third, the FCC needs to examine VoIP in greater detail before taking any action. The current docket does not allow for extensive review of all the potential impacts this new technology may have on the telecommunications industry. It has the potential to undermine the existing methods of intercarrier compensation, resulting in a fundamental restructuring of the industry. Chairman Powell made a recent statement that the FCC was preparing a major examination of the regulation of VoIP services. This examination should commence now, and the FCC should not grant Vonage's petition in this docket.
  --In Re Vonage Holdings Corporation Petition For Declaratory Ruling Concerning An Order Of The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, Comments Of The Iowa Utilities Board Wc-03-211 (October 27, 2003)

  Trials and Market Deployments

  • Des Moines MediaOne Merrill Lynch, Everything Over IP (March 12, 2004)