Well, it turns out that one particularly odious bill which would have squelched community internet outright in Illinois has been pulled from consideration, for the moment. It's unclear exactly why but one hopes that the added pressure and attention to this bill has paid off. Yay for our side!

But a new bombshell has just been dropped. Senate Bill 1700, a pretty extensive rewrite which, as it would appear, would seriously maim or remove a lot of public-interest concerns. See preliminary analysis here.

Illinois residents: We encourage you to get involved and contact your local senators and represtatives on the issue.

But there's also good news to report: There's a meeting of the braintrust of Illinois community organizers happening tomorrow, and there's talk of galvanizing unofficial public hearings across Illinois on the topic. Stay tuned, true believers.

Update: There's a conference in Peoria about the Illinois Telecom Act. And also the Citizens Utility Board has developed an action alert on the topic: Act now.

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