Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Phillip Rhodes <mindcrime AT cpphacker.co.uk>]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Cristóbal Palmer wrote:
> 
> Yep. There it went.
> 
>> Which only refers to what information must be provided at the public
>> hearings and does not, in itself, impose any operating restraints.
> 
> What now? You think local government officials would draw up sham
> plans that they don't intend to comply with at all and people would be
> happy with that?

Regardless of what they'd be happy with or not, that section of the bill
- - to my non lawyer eyes - does not impose a profitability constraint.
And even if one can interpret it as imposing a restraint, it's pretty
wide open.   Maybe the plan is only to operate at a 1 cent profit per
year.  It's not like the state is saying "We tell you LocalGov, that
your system must generate X million dollars in profit or it has to
be shut down."


 > You have it precisely backwards. This bill's intention was to
> reinforce and guarantee the continued highly profitable duopoly of
> Cable and DSL internet providers.

And it does that how?  All it prevents is low-ball competition
funded by taxpayer subsidies. It doesn't prevent LocalGov from
competing on a level basis.  It doesn't prevent the aforementioned
private cooperatives I spoke of.  It doesn't prevent new for-profit
competitors from entering the market.  It doesn't prevent groups
of citizens from forming private wireless mesh networks.
And it doesn't eliminate existing competitors to the
TWC / Bellsouth duopoly (if such a beast exists), such as satellite
internet, and ClearWire Wireless.

> Ever heard of Rural Electrification?
> 
> http://newdeal.feri.org/tva/tva10.htm is the top google hit.
> 
> Broadband internet is to this century as electrification was to the
> last. TWC and other companies have repeatedly shown themselves to be
> unwilling to invest in the infrastructure that will keep _all_ of this
> country ahead of the curve for another century. We should be
> petitioning our government to step in before it's too late. Or google.

Or forming coops.  Or petitioning the government to remove artificial
barriers to entry that discourage more private companies from entering
the market.



TTYL,


Phil
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.7 (MingW32)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org

iD8DBQFGpsv+dkzqYMZbBuwRAlPQAKCQKD5U0hP/qithRWKlyKlGHHYpeACfcfHS
L2EqJDYarka4FKWT+YHW6Vg=
=8j2m
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
begin:vcard
fn:Phillip Rhodes
n:Rhodes;Phillip
adr:;;P.O. Box 16905;Chapel Hill;NC;27516;USA
email;internet:mindcrime AT cpphacker.co.uk
tel;home:919-928-0236
url:http://www.linkedin.com/in/philliprhodes
version:2.1
end:vcard