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New Orleans Tech Chief Vows WiFi Net Here to Stay
breckinshire writes "After Hurricane Katrina last year, New Orleans set up a city-wide wireless network to encourage businesses to return and assist in recovery. The New Orleans technology chief recently said that he intends to make the network permanent, in spite of state law and the disapproval of telecoms."
But I just gotta know - is this a Chocolate Wifi network?
"We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
Will they place the transmitters on buoys?
I take issue with the telecom companies trying to regulate what city government can and cannot do with their donated equipment. However, if the city shuts down their equipment and lets it sit inactive until another emergency the telecom companies do not have a problem with this.
What the city should propose to do is use the current emergency services systems (police, fire, etc.) in parallel with the wireless equipment. This would provide a variety of systems to use if one fails in the event of another hurricane. A majority if not all the equipment came from Cisco, which provides a software solution called LMR Over IP. This would ensure a highly redundant solution, just incase another event like hurricane Katrina happens again. This is a far better solution than having equipment sitting there useless, or removing it entirely.
/whisper/ Thanks for the candy!
And said that it's a lifeblood for city residents. He also said that Bell South, once he intimated that this might be done, immediately slowed down on committments they'd made to the City to get restoration done.
/.ers should start a movement to create an alternate net down there that can't be touched by the law. Not renegade, rather to aid the people in NO that use the city WiFi as a lifeline.
In a way, it's an 'up-the-telcos' soft of move. And who can blame him?
I'm for the citizens of NO, not incumbent telcos with rotten attitudes. Maybe
---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
Even as a free-market kind of guy, the doublespeak here really makes my head spin. In the name of fair competition... we have to eliminate anything that might outcompete with $5.99/minute pay-card-based WiFi providers.
Then again, welcome to Newspeak verb conjugation 101:
I am erotic. You are kinky. They are perverts.
We protect. Our allies enforce. Our enemies oppress.
Government appropriates. Telecoms lobby. WiFi users steal.
One wonders how a law like that would get passed in the first place. Could it perhaps be campaign contributions by telcos?
If and when this does go to legal grounds, it will most likely be a huge landmark case that could open the floodgates for other cities to establish a municiple wireless system.
If it's handled improperly, and gets shut down, it will be a serious blow to any in roads already established toward providing free, community wireless projects. This would be a terrible crime, and once again, a reason the US would fall further behind in the broadband arena. The cable companies and Bell's already have an effective monopoly over much of the US, simply because they are the only carrier/provider in the area offering Broadband, and you simply can't go to someone else for that. Wireless takes away this monopoly, and boy are they pissed.
Not that superior quality necessarily protects against superior lobbying...
//Information does not want to be free; it wants to breed.
Vonage should be flooding New Orleans (pun intended) with advertising! Imagine having free internet PLUS vonage! My monthly bills would go down considerably.
Does this sig remind you of Agatha Christie?
Politics and business have never mixed any better than say... ummm gasoline and matches... no matter how they mix, somebody is getting burned, and its usually not the guy with the matches.
The trouble here is not that a city government can operate a WiFi or telecommunications network, but that if they did, it would remove the stranglehold that the telecoms companies have over the consumers. That is what is really at stake. Imagine what would happen if we all opened up our APs and started running large mesh networks over telecom company pipes? If you think NO is a problem, there would be calls for federally mandated closure of unsecured wireless APs.
Personally, I thought this is what the free market was supposed to be all about... competition to drive innovation and self-regulate cost structures. Of course there is always that unfair competitive practices thing, but how is making it illegal for anyone to compete 'fair competition' ????
I'm willing to bet that an 'open source' style mesh network can run for quite an extended period of time on simply the money that has been spent lobbying to keep NO from running a metro WiFi network. Perhaps its time to review, in public forums, the costs incurred by metropolitan NO on behalf of telecom companies so they can provide services? Licenses for towers and transmitters are not free, nor are they given away by divine right of the telecom companies. Tit for tat? Maybe its time?
Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
It is truly scary that government officials believe that they are above the law. Laws are passed for a reason - for good or for bad, and we have to accept the law as it is, or collectively agree to change the law.
Sadly, in this day and age, many laws are being passed that are just plain stupid. However, even stupid laws are laws, and it takes a majority of supporters to repeal them.
Instead, it has been acceptable for a minority to willingly break the law, despite the fact that the laws are not going to be repealed. This happens over and over again, and sadly, government procecutors ignore their oaths and duties and allow this criminal activity to continue. Shame on them for their absolute incompetence and failure.
I like the idea of letting New Orleans keep their WIFI. I'm in no position to say that it's a bad thing. But evidently a majority of those in honestly elected office think it is a bad thing and passed a law to prevent it, and so being in a democracy, I have to accept that. That's the deal.
I also think the telecoms are fucked in the head. But that doesn't change the law.
I have to second that one...most of the crack dealers that left are not that technically inclined.
Right now with housing, etc...you cannot live in New Orleans unless you are a productive citizen with a job. There is no tax base there to provide for the welfare freeloaders that have not been able to come back. This isn't a racial thing...is an economic thing. If you can work...you can live in New Orleans. If we can survive this next hurricane season, I think that NOLA will actually be a much nicer place...crime is WAY down, and the state has taken over almost all of the schools in the city. The city has a chance to come back better than before...just hope the politicos don't blow this once in a lifetime chance to rebuild a city.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
This makes me wonder how upset the Telcos & Cable providers were when Libraries (St. Louis, specifically) first brought high-speed Internet to everyone living in the city / county? To me at least, it really seems like the same thing: local government providing a service with tax money for everyone. I know why they're pissed about it: they think they're going to lose exactly one shitload of money because people can use the free Internet vs. cable / dsl at home and businesses. I for one don't really feel sorry for these companies missing out on getting some bucks from the locals. Offer a competitive service at a competitive price and people will go back to personal broadband solutions for their home.
The hardcore foil-hatters, gamers, file-sharing, and business communities will pay for their connection just because they don't want to touch the gov't tainted systems, want faster ping times, or a bigger pipe to push their data out. I mean, it's only 512 kbps and they're talking about dropping it to 128 kbps. I highly doubt (say, I'm 99% sure) using "free Wi-Fi" is a serious solution for most businesses and a lot of home users in the long run.
So in short, suck it up you penny-pinching bastards. There's no "free Wi-Fi" where I live, so you're still getting my check. Sheesh.
hi mom!
It seems to me that this is the free market at work and I'll explain why:
We have a service that is sought after by the residents and business people of NO , and we have a provider who is willing to distribute it at a given price. Now granted that price is free and it was at roughly 0 cost to them as the equipment was donated but none the less they are providing a service that the people are after at a price the people like.
Here comes Bell South, etc... who used to have a bunch of customers in NO before a natural disaster wiped them out. They obviously want that business back but replacing all the infrastructure they lost is extremely expensive so they have a dilema. Do we: 1)take a profit hit, piss off stock holders and possibly lose our jobs or 2)lobby against the people currently providing the service for free, colletc our monopoly and restore service when it becomes convenient and not too expensive.
Government should absolutely step in and provide this service IF the people want it, if a private company can provide a more compelling offer people are free to switch to it. In an ideal world once there is no more demand for gov't to provide the service the tax payers could defund it and the network would revert to its emergency only status.
Another analogy for this is roads, there weren't many paved roads before the gov't started building them should the contry have been forced to stand by and wait for private enterprise to build the roads? NO! Should private enterprise be forbidden from building toll roads? NO! if the privately owned roads are better (use any definition of better you like here) then they will get more use than the publicly owned ones. The same will happen with internet access in NO.
You don't need a huge city with a tremendous bustling population to have wi-fi networks. The city of Flagstaff, Arizona, has lots of free wi-fi, and the population is only around 65,000,... Though it helps to have a major, state-supported University in town, combined with a pretty healthy hotel/hospitality industry,... ;-)
Heck, the hotel & restaurant industry supports the vast majority of Flagstaff's free wi-fi! No tax dollars necessary. You would think that, with all of the tourism in New Orleans, they wouldn't have a need for the government to fund a wi-fi project, either,...
Unfortunately for surrounding major cities, crime is up.
I think that while it is a nice period for the working New Orleans, there is no guarantee once the city is back on track that it will stay free from freeloaders. Part of this is the bigger issue of people living on welfare that could work, but that's another discussion entirely. The wifi will be good to have for the working residents, but how long until the speeds drop, the networks deteriorate, and maintinence is not handled correctly?
You mean... the strippers have returned to the French Quarter?!? Hallelujah!!!
There is not as much of a benefit to the community-at-large with a fee-based access system. Free city-wide wireless coverage means that anyone, with relatively little cost for an older computer or laptop can have access to the same information that the more privilaged have had access to for over a decade. In time, along with the proper resources to access, education on how to use the Internet and encouragement through public relations, provide a more educated and informed populace. That should be a benefit, correctd? That is, unless keeping the populace under-informed is what we want as a society.
Maybe if New Orleans would put an end to socialism, those that are "poor" would get off their ass and find a fucking job. I hate freeloaders. When you have communism/socialism, you have a world of fucking bums.
I predicted this! I said that all of those "poor" people would scatter around to the 50 states and NEVER come back. Why? Because now they found a job, are productive, and have meaning in their lives. They are happy, productive members of society. This storm was the kick in the ass they needed to bootstrap their lives into motion.
Life is not for the lazy.
I'll just have to inform yer ignorant ass that I'm a lifelong Democrat-(50 years), that I work with the black folks every day and we are the ones rebuilding this city side by side. Evidently you haven't been here or know nothing of what is going on here. The fellas I work with are glad to see the criminal element gone too because it was mostly black on black crime and they want to live in a city where they aren't getting shot and killed every day fool!
Won't Bow.....Don't Know How
Wow, you're a moron.
In New Orleans, Burger King is offering $5,000 sign on bonuses. They need the employees that bad. But they can't get people to work there. People can't get houses built. All those welfare lazies could come back to NO and work. But they don't want to.
Basically, it's racist to expect blacks to work, is what you're saying.
They'd get revenue rather than spending revenue and the town would be blanketed with wireless coverage before they could begin to issue their RFQ's to their bribers.
Seastead this.
There are still going to be public schools, moron. But it's going to be a while before people who got free houses get new free houses on everyone else's dime. Especially since most of them don't want to work. Businesses in NO are begging for employees right now. Anyone of any color could get a great start if they wanted to actually fucking work.
There are just race baiting whiners like you and Cynthia "I get to punch cops 'cos I'm black" McKinney, and all the people who expect everything to be handed to them. Sorry if people aren't willing to just build a whole city for lazy people who want to stay in nice hotels (on the tax payers dollar) until everything is done for them.
After making the wifi network permanent they will start work on making the levees permanent.
It's good to see they have their priorities straight.
There are two types of people in this world: those that categorize other people and those that don't.
Why do people think that it is great to "compete" with a government-granted monopoly (telcos) with a government-built monopoly? How do you think the telcos got to the level they are at now? A private company (e.g. a real ISP) has enough problems trying to compete with the telcos. There's no way they can compete with taxpayer-funded networks as well.
According to the official EarthLink blog (http://blogs.earthlink.net/2006/03/saving_wifi_in _new_orleans.php) New Orleans has approached EarthLink about taking over the WiFi network there. Given that EarthLink is building out the networks in Philly and Anaheim as well this might be the solution to the problem. If a private company runs things the telcos can't complain.
As long as getting access to the 'net is NOT considered a public right (such as electricity, water, sewage removal, etc.), the private telecoms will attempt to capitalize.
:)
Societally, this poses an issue. To be a public utility, everyone must NEED the Internet. If this is so, then many of the 'brick-and-mortar' locations we go to must be replaced with more efficient 'online' locations. This is tricky. As yet, products and services offered online are offered offline. If a basic service (such as banking) moves in its entirety to the virtual world, then the Internet becomes not just a luxury, but a necessity.
This, of course, requires a societal shift. But we are moving this way. Think of communication tools. People 'can't live without' email. Heck, if I don't spend 6-8 hours a day online, I feel useless.
Until access to the Internet is considered a RIGHT, we'll never be able to freely give it away. I say we all put our brains together and create a product/service/idea that is truly revolutionary but can only be gained through the 'net. Moreover, this p/s/i must be so fundamentally essential to the world from that point on, access becomes essential for every man, woman, child, and anything else I missed.
Good luck to the project manager on that one
Yes, ALL freeloaders. Corporation, or citizens...makes no difference to me. While were at it, get rid of the IRS. It's a bloated orginization whos only purpose is to provide a means of architecting society. Such an orginization provides *power* to the politicians in office to get re-elected.
Want fair? Support http://www.fairtax.org/
Life is not for the lazy.
If you can work...you can live in New Orleans
Well... not really. Rent skyrocketted here. A one bedroom apartment averages about $800 now
I think that NOLA will actually be a much nicer place...crime is WAY down
Sadly, no. Crime is rapidly returning to the city. Give it another month and it will be the same crime rates that we had pre-katrina.
This place pisses me off right now. I have a decent job, but I am struggling to pay rent. The crime is becoming unbelievable again, and half the city still looks like nuclear weapons were tested here. Literally HALF of the citys traffic lights still do not work.
I think the city will come back, but it won't be the paradise people were dreaming about. We will slowly trade the problems we have now with the problems we had before.
----
Squirrel
No one down here left really cares what you are, as long as you are wanting to work and help. I just can't stand all this shit on the radio and tv about people "not having a RIGHT" to come back...anyone has a right...just that like in the old days, you have to work to earn your keep and contribute to society and be worth your weight...
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Republicans out in force tonight.
The population that was removed at gunpoint, and kept out at gunpoint? You mean those people who weren't let back into the city until the landlords dumped their furniture out on the street and re-rented the apartments at twice the price? The home owners who are being dispossessed? The people who were told to get stuffed a couple of months ago when their bennies were cut off?
EVERYONE WANTS BACK IN. Those that weren't rich or connected are being robbed as we speak of their property. The city government has been taken out by neocons who have dissolved the public schools and non-profit hospitals -- the poor are NOT being let back in and it is intentional. Unions are now illegal. Slave immigrant and "guest" workers are paid pennies and are housed in tents, while NOLA residents who could have been paid to rebuild are told to get stuffed. The connected Republican contractors are using slave labor to build their profits. Tens of thousands of mobile homes are sitting out of state, rotting, because the shadowy figures making the decisions have made it so. The construction workers are fed by out-of-state caterers thru friendly connections in the congress and white house. In other words, all the money spent on new orleans is not going to the actual people who would work there if they could. the cash is going to republican out-of-state contract whores who are looting the place blind. the city will be rebuilt as a white, condo-tall, high-rise republican bastion of neo-con values (looting), and the state of Louisiana will be a republican state henceforth. mission accomplished.