Slashdot Mirror
Verizon-Pushed WiFi Bill Becomes Law in PA
Cryofan writes "A Wall Street Journal article (via freepress) tells the sad tale of how legislation barring PA municipalities from offering paid telecom services was signed into law. 'Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell said late Tuesday night that he had signed into law a large telecommunications bill placing severe restrictions on the ability of cities and towns to offer telecommunications services, an item that was heavily lobbied by Verizon Communications Inc. and other big telephone companies in similar legislation across the country.'" (Also mentioned last week.)
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Oh my God you are so right!
I can't believe the government is funding public libraries, they're taking money from commercial bookstores. Like, OmiGod! And the streets! Woah, they should let go of city maintenance and allow the commercial road surfacing companies to fill in the potholes on the street... But wait, there's more! Why is the police allowed to operate, don't they know that they're taking money away from commercial security providers? Heck why do we have cities to begin with, we could just outsource everything to India...
Wait...
I'm dashing off to the patent office with a big grin on my face...
"Piter, too, is dead."
What does it fucking matter?
I mean, the trend is leaning more and more corporate every year. When is voting going to become a show when what really matters is corporate backing? Oh wait, its half way there already.
Don't like what your customers are doing with your products? Write a law against them, push it through the court. Soon, your opposition is arrested or forced to stop doing what you don't like.
Don't like another business? Write a law against them, push it through the court. Soon, your opposition is arrested or forced out of business.
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
That's not competition, that's a tax-funded program. How is verizon (or any other carrier) supposed to compete against that? Verizon can't take the money from you against your will, like the government can. Verizon can't force you to be a customer.
And when the big corporations lobby for preferential legislation (which they do frequently), it's not capitalism, it's socialism. In capitalism the government can't hinder or support any private entity: their fates are left to the market to decide.
That's not competition, that's a tax-funded program. How is verizon (or any other carrier) supposed to compete against that? Verizon can't take the money from you against your will, like the government can. Verizon can't force you to be a customer.
Have you lost sight of the fact that Verizon is just not some private sector company? The government(s) have given the phone company MONOPOLY status. This same Verizon has done everything in its lobbying power to prevent other private companies from competing with them. I think there is a pretty long history that demonstrates Verizon has no interest in serving the public in a broad approach; they just want to skim the 'cheaper to service' customers. The PA initiative is visionary--like rural electrification. It realizes, to use the words of the business person, that in order to be competitive in todays global enconomy in an information age, residents of the city need to be part of the information haves, not have nots.
Remember that Verizon fought tooth and nail in the states it 'serves' to prevent ISDN (and later DSL) from being considering a non-discretionary service subject to public utility regulation which I think would have resulted in much broader roll-out. Now that a city realizes that Verizon has no plans to roll out service to everyone, they want to provide it themselves as an infrastructure.
Philly is just trying to be competitive. Its just like how cities/states give tax incentives for people to move their businesses there.
The monolopy Verizon has is absurd. Here in Maryland, a long time ago, Verizon upgraded from analog to digital switches (SS7). The cost of that upgrade was allowed to be pass on to the rate payer with promises of new digital features for POTS and ISDN capability. Despite the ratepayer paying for the SS7 infrastructue, Verizon started charging outrageous fees ($3.50 for Caller ID per month, etc) for software capabilities we had to pay for. Verizon has no real interest in serving all the people in Philly--they would much rather implement 'caller ringtones' that they can charge $2 bucks a month for. I wish I had a money machine like that.