Thanks to Representative Phil King (R-Weatherford), Texas has become the latest state to introduce legislation banning cities from setting up wireless internet access for their citizens.
You may recall the dustup late last year when Verizon successfully pushed a similar bill through in Pennsylvania.
Naturally, this is all done in the interest of protecting the giant telecommunications companies from the insidious force of public competition. If governments get in on their business, it is argued, these companies could not continue to so successfully gouge the public for the benefit of their shareholders. It's just not fair!
In many cases, this argument could be true. We don't want the government to start making cars, for example, or computers, for many reasons. They wouldn't make them well, they wouldn't make them fast, they wouldn't innovate, and they would drive all other companies out of business.
Internet access is clearly different and should be treated as such. Resisting the idea that the internet is on it's way to becoming a basic public utility like water or electricity is silly. Having access is a vital factor in having equal opportunity, and we all have an interest in cheap, fast and universal connections.
