Chapel Hill Technology Advisory Committee

[chtechboard AT willraymond.org]

Bellsouth in NC is in a bit of a bind with the recent revelation they
donated money to a NC Utilities Commissioner:

"RALEIGH, N.C. Governor Easley wants more information before acting in the
case of a lawmaker he appointed to the state Utilities Commission days
before the man received a campaign contribution from BellSouth employees.
...
The donation has raised questions of conflict of interest for Culpepper.
Though his appointment has to be confirmed by the General Assembly after
it reconvenes in May, Easley could remove him from the commission at any
time."

http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=4576298&nav=menu70_2

and

"Commissioner Culpepper has evidently told several versions of how he came
to report the donation five days after his appointment was announced. None
of them so far passes the smell test. His acceptance, however brief, of
the contribution from a regulated industry raises questions about his
judgment and his fitness to remain on the commission. Given how many
investigations are going on in Raleigh right now over money and politics,
the commissioner's phone may be ringing off the hook pretty soon. He'll
want to get his stories straight first."

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/opinion/14005504.htm

At the same time it's revealed that:

"The WSJ reports that BellSouth and other telcos are considering new fee
structures that charge users based on the amount of bandwidth they use..."

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060303-6311.html

Tiered service is an anathema to "free" communications.

I don't think we should underestimate the pushback we're going to get from
the monopolists the closer we get to deploying this vital service.

Will