1 step forward, 2 steps back for SF-citywide Wi-Fi

1 STEP FORWARD, 2 STEPS BACK FOR SF-CITYWIDE WI-FI
[SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle, AUTHOR: Wyatt Buchanan]
Free wireless Internet access for San Francisco is experiencing technical difficulties. Just last week, a proposed contract negotiated by the Newsom administration with EarthLink picked up key backing from Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who said that with changes to speed up the service and make it more reliable, he could support the deal. But on Wednesday, Peskin and other supervisors raised more concerns at a City Hall hearing over whether the agreement adequately protects the privacy of users and whether it could turn into a monopoly giveaway of a public resource. To relieve concerns about an EarthLink Wi-Fi monopoly, Peskin proposed cutting the term of the contract in half, from 16 years to eight years. He also wants the contract to include an option for the city to buy the network at the end of the eight-year term.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/12/BAG61QV3GO1.DTL&type=politics