FCC Being Accused of Wardrobe...I mean, Internet Malunction

In front of a congressional panel on Wednesday, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) introduced a report stating that the E-rate program-a $2.25 billion program designed to provide affordable Internet access and connection gear to libraries and schools, especially those in poor and remote areas, across the nation- has serious flaws.

According to the GAO's report, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), who delegates day-to-day management of E-rate to the nonprofit Universal Service Administrative Company, doesn't have useful performance goals to measure the program's success and has been slow to respond to audits of E-rate participants. In a CNN.com report, the GAO says that the FCC's screw-ups "create barriers to enforcement, uncertainty about what the program's requirements really are, and questions about the soundness of the program's structure and accountability amid recent cases of fraud, waste and abuse."