--- Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2002 13:50:48 -0700 From: "Annalee Newitz" <Annaleeat_private> To: <declanat_private> 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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