[MLB-WIRELESS] Fw: Wireless community networks vs. corporate ones, by Annalee Newitz

[Barry Park]

Hmmzor. The words "spell doom for monopoly" bode well. The word "doom" does
not.
- Barry

----- Original Message -----
From: "Declan McCullagh" <declan at well.com>
To: <politech at politechbot.com>
Sent: Monday, June 17, 2002 3:25 PM
Subject: FC: Wireless community networks vs. corporate ones, by Annalee
Newitz


>
> ---
>
> Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2002 13:50:48 -0700
> From: "Annalee Newitz" <Annalee at sfbg.com>
> To: <declan at well.com>
>
> Hi Declan. I think folks will be interested in a techno-political issue
> brewing in San Francisco which touches on many of the problems faced by
> wireless community groups who want to work with their local city
> governments. Here's my story on how San Francisco's cable franchise deal
> with AT&T threatens our burgeoning community wireless networks . . .
>
> Broadband to the people!
> Wireless community networks challenge corporate control of Internet
access.
>
> By Annalee Newitz
> IT ALL STARTED with a can of Safeway-brand beef ravioli. Jim Meehan, a San
> Francisco network engineer, had been reading on Slashdot
> (www.slashdot.org), the geek news site of record, about how to build a
> homemade antenna for his computer. The heart of the contraption was an
> ordinary metal can. "They recommended using Malley's beef stew for the
can,
> but the ravioli was cheaper," Meehan confesses. After some tinkering and
> tests, Meehan discovered his home-brewed antenna was far from ordinary:
> indeed, it's possible Meehan's humble ravioli can, combined with the
> know-how of a few hundred community-minded geeks, could dramatically
reduce
> the cost of high-speed Internet access for everyone in San Francisco. In
> some cases, access might even become free.
> . . .
> And that's not good news for companies like AT&T. Because Meehan isn't the
> only one who can surf the Web with a tin-can antenna: in fact, anyone with
> an unobstructed view of Meehan's house can point one of these cheap
devices
> at it and share his high-speed Internet access - for free. If the practice
> spreads - and Meehan hopes it will - why would anyone want to pay for
> expensive Internet service from companies like AT&T?
> That is exactly what AT&T is afraid you'll ask, and it's why the company
> and others like it have taken steps to block their customers from setting
> up publicly accessible wireless networks like Meehan's. Since, under
AT&T's
> franchise agreement with the city of San Francisco, the corporation will
> soon own most of the fiber-optic cable that provides speedy Internet
> service to the city, AT&T's policies could spell doom for the city's
> burgeoning wireless community networks.
> Or, if city officials intervene, the nonprofit, grassroots wireless
> networks could spell doom for AT&T's monopoly . . .
>
> http://www.sfbg.com/36/37/cover_wireless.html
>
> Annalee Newitz
> Culture Editor, San Francisco Bay Guardian
> www.techsploitation.com
>
>
>
>
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