A few months ago Verizon sponsored a bill in Pennsylvania to outlaw municipal wireless networks. It was a bad bill (a) because it contained all kinds of sweetheart deals for entrenched corporations, most notably Verizon and (b) it was profoundly antidemocratic, in that wireless networks are increasingly central to political discourse in this country.
Harold Feld, of the Media Access Project writes a series about media and democracy called "Tales of the Sausage Factory." His close analysis of the PA bill was a key motivator to the resistance to the bill, which caught the perpetrators a little off guard.
Thanks to a mini-firestorm of citizen protest generated by blog land (several other bloggers wrote their own analyses), some of the very worst aspects of this bill were toned down before it was, alas, signed into law.
Now Harold is back with another Tale of the Sausage Factory about a new, and much worse, corporate-sponsored anti-democratic bill to outlaw municipal wireless in Indiana.
Harold's close analysis (he is a lawyer who specializes in this domain) is eye-opening to say the least. It's a disturbing look into the way that corporations not only usurp our rights (and charge us handsomely to do so), but also usurp the very media by which we talk about how the corporations usurp our rights.
However, he also gives reason for hope. Because thanks to blogs, (which the corporations have not shut down--yet), citizens can be made aware of what's going on and they can unite to resist it.
I agree with Harold that the telecommunications bills springing up all over the place to restrict wireless internet access are not merely about furthering the interests of the corporations and those of the corrupt, or borderline corrupt legislators who do their bidding. These bills are about suppressing the ability of people to communicate -- because municipal free wireless is available, by definition, to everybody, rich and poor alike, whereas the telecommunications companies have every reason to give preferential treatment to those with greater ability to pay. It's not only about who provides the service and how it's paid for. It's also about whether the service exacerbates or ameliorates the "digital divide" that locks poor people out of the discussion.
I'm proud to say that Harold's Suasage Factory stories are hosted on my website
Wetmachine, which is also home to a few other people who write about technology and society.
Howard Dean yesterday made the point that the Democratic Party must be willing to contest every elective office, right down to the most humble local spots. In that vein I would suggest that we need to learn how to pay attention to every bill in every legislature, and we need to organize and resist every single bit of bad legislation, especially legislation that threatens democratic discourse itself.
No matter where you live, I modestly suggest, you'll be well rewarded by taking the time to read Harold's current post. And if if you live in Indiana, you really owe it to yourself to check this out and act now before it's too late.
If you do read the story and agree with what I've said here, I would appreciate a recommendation. With DKos's help we can shine a flashlight into corners where the corporations and their friends in the legislatures never expected to see it.
