Rendell Signs No Muni Bill Into Law

from the gotta-ask-permission dept

Wed, Dec 1st 2004 1:24am — Mike Masnick

Despite a valiant effort by a large number of people to get the bill vetoed, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has gone ahead and signed the new state telecom bill into law, meaning that any municipality that wants to offer its constituents broadband now have to ask companies for permission first. Rendell side-stepped the controversy over the bill by pointing to the agreement between Verizon and Philadelphia that Verizon would not block Philly's efforts to offer free WiFi across the city. This is problematic, however, in that it sets the precedent that cities somehow need to ask companies before they can offer their residents services they feel are necessary and helpful. While it's not as bad as the situation in Barcelona, it's still another state making a bad decision based on the lobbying of a few companies. And, in this case, it includes a company that has lied and scammed the state of Pennsylvania multiple times, with promises of broadband for all (at one point, fiber for all) in return for various windfalls. Rather than deliver, however, they've simply taken the windfall and moved on. So, here's another one that also lets them make sure that local governments can't keep them honest.

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4 Comments

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ac, 1 Dec 2004 @ 5:18am

No Subject Given
Just one more than the US is sliding toward being a fascist state, where we are governed by the corporations.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Dec 2004 @ 6:29am

Re: No Subject Given
Pennsylvania is like this. I live here. Fat ass Redell sucks money out of the entire state and spends it in Philly & Pittsburgh on a regular basis. He supports elderly on gambling money for chris sakes ! The guys a fucking retard. Businesses ( other than Verizon ... because of how they are raping PA ) don't want to locate here because of complicated & over burdensome laws, real estate taxes on homes are out of site & we are the east coast's fucking landfill ! The wealthy like my parents are leaving in droves ... off to the Carolinas or back west.
Pa is a state full of prisons, overtaxed middle class & poor municipal services.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Dec 2004 @ 9:48pm

No Subject Given
Fast Eddie, has not done one good thing since he took office. The simple fact that his slogan he campagied with was that "Saved the Philly School system" this was just a couple of months after the state took them over because they were so bad.
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len, 2 Dec 2004 @ 8:16pm

backfire?
How's about all the local governments annouce they're offering wi-fi so Verizon has to either let it through or offer the service?
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