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Is the internet a resource or a service?
Is the internet a resource or a service?
I saw in the news that in Philly, the state level government is getting pressure from the ISPs & Telcos to ban a state ran wireless service. I'm starting to really be dead against any attempt to ban a government ran, free wireless service for the public. While I really am pro jobs and I realize this will vastly hurt the American job market (although some of these jobs would simply relocate to a gov owned position, or a private contractor). I also see the Internet more as a public resource like a library or a park and less like a commercial service now-a-days.
I mean without question, one day the internet will replace the library, in fact I'm sure libraries have taken a massive hit from the younger generation (30s and younger) over the past 10yrs. Now that broadband has become the norm, and virtually every aspect of the government is available online (ex: you can register to vote online... and there is even a push to vote online) I see the internet as something that everybody has a right too, and not just a paid service like cable tv (although I guess you can bring up some interesting analogies with cable and the internet since they both are extremely common and you get looked at funny for not having them in your home).
I guess a fair way initially is that everybody should have access to free wireless, perhaps just heavily bottlenecked to 56k or 128k speeds, and if you want fast speeds, you go with a commercial ISP. Although eventually that free speed is going to creep up faster as technology improves and you can't stop that unless some absurd laws are passed.
I guess that would equate to free tv, which most places currently get 5 or more channels for free. Perhaps that free access could even have forced ads although I can't imagine a reliable way to force a reasonable amount of popups (especially with SP2 and popup blockers) to these free customers. I guess I have much more thinking on this subject before I could argue it. I'll probably post more on this subject in the near future.
You can read the news article at: http://news.com.com/2061-1034-5458844.html
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