National Broadband Plan arrives, quoting Shakespeare

When the federal government spends more than a year developing a 300+ page report on national broadband policy, perhaps the last thing one expects to find in it is a quote from Shakespeare’s Henry IV . As two rebels plot their assault on the English king, the Welsh leader Owen Glendower brags that he can “call spirits from the vasty deep.” The English Hotspur retorts, “Why, so can I, or so can any man; but will they come when you do call for them?” Anyone can talk a good game about conjuring broadband policy from the vasty deep of the FCC—but can those people actually implement their visions? The National Broadband Plan , released today, drops this bit of Shakespeare on readers at the bottom of page 11 to make a simple point: this Plan is about the art of the possible.

Tags: ars, article, english, english-hotspur, from-the-lips, from-the-vasty, result, tech policy, utm, vasty, welsh, year-developing