[A2k] Lessig: WiFi hope for net neutrality ?

[Michelle Childs]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/16/wifi_net_neutrality_lessig/

Municipal WiFi is the new hope for Net Neutrality - thinker
Lessig's exploding cloud

By Gavin Clarke in San FranciscoPublished Wednesday 16th August 2006 20:24

Municipal WiFi networks could help beat US carriers and politicians in the
battle over so-called "net neutrality," according to one leading
campaigner

Stanford University law professor Larry Lessig has argued the WiFi clouds
popping up across cites from Philadelphia to San Francisco could provide
broadband access over the "last mile" between the internet cloud and
users' doorsteps.

 Lessig, author and co-leader of the Creative Commons, told LinuxWorld
attendees in San Francisco, that unification of the WiFI patchwork would
provide an infrastructure that frees the last mile from the "proprietary
control" of carriers like AT&T and Verizon. This would restrict carriers'
ability to charge content providers different fees in order to prioritize
delivery of their data packets across the internet.


"When one owns the wires as these network operators do, there is a desire
to leverage control. To exploit and capture the value up the stack,"
Lessig said.

"There's an explosion in municipal mesh networks... as you see the clouds
exploding above the cities and people unify them, the last mile is solved.
The last mile is provided free of proprietary control," Lessig said.

Wonderful clouds exploding imagery aside, the wireless networks aren't
taking off with quite the speed that Lessig claims. Google only fired up
its free WiFi service in Mountain View this week - close to a year after
it first promised to establish the service. And, those hoping to use the
service, have to sign onto their Google account, letting the ad broker at
their traffic. Meanwhile, major cities have struggled to rollout networks
and see their WiFi plans as multi-year efforts.

According to Lessig, the end to net neutrality would hurt start-ups
lacking cash not the giants such as Google, who are in the cross hairs of
carriers like AT&T. "The net neutrality looser will be the next Google -
like YouTube - because they can't pay this toll to be on the network,"
Lessig said.

He invoked the spirit of Linux, suggesting WiFi networks could be unified
and moderated by the community, a la the Linux kernel. "If you support
peer to peer, penguin magic, you will erase the last barrier to
guaranteeing this infrastructure of the internet maintains the values of
freedom that were there at its birth," Lessig said.

Municipal WiFi has been under attack in the US. Carriers like Verizon have
been successfully lobbying local and national politicians who have
introduced a number of bills banning cities from providing free wireless
services in recent years. Carries argue free WiFi is unfair competition
and hurts innovation, points rejected by Lessig who said free WiFi is
actually "good for business, good for growth and more valuable to society
and the economy."

Lessig encouraged members of community to inform lawyers and politicians
about the dangers posed to innovation and new companies by the end to net
neutrality. This, he said, would necessitate becoming involved in
politics. "You have to play politics in a way the other side plays it...
you need to 'waste your time' because they have all the power that's
necessary to take away the freedom you now celebrate," he said.=AE


--
Michelle Childs -Head of European Affairs
Consumer Project on Technology in London
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