States weigh limits on public Internet

STATES WEIGH LIMITS ON PUBLIC INTERNET
[SOURCE: USAToday, AUTHOR: Jordan Schrader]
This year, Wyoming became one of 12 states that restricts public broadband Internet, joining Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Legislation proposing restrictions in North Carolina is in the committee phase but has inspired opposition from cities, consumer advocates such as the North Carolina Public Interest Research Group and tech companies such as Google. The debate also has caught the attention of U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., who has drafted a bill to keep states from putting up barriers to public Internet. "Broadband is every bit as essential as electricity was when it was emerging 100 years ago," he said. One of the state legislators Boucher wants to stop, Rep. Drew Saunders, also drew a comparison to the utilities of the past. The Democratic chairman of the N.C. House Public Utilities Committee said the bill he introduced this year would apply 21st-century technology to the principle that municipalities shouldn't compete with industry. His proposal would keep North Carolina cities from subsidizing a communication service with taxes or other money and require the service to turn a profit. "We're not saying they cannot compete," Saunders said. "We're saying that if you do, you've got to do some of the same things (as) private industry." Not all states are moving in the direction of more restrictions. In Pennsylvania, Rep. Mike Sturla, a Democrat, has proposed ending a law limiting local public broadband to places where a phone company had refused to provide the requested connection speeds.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070717/a_limitingweb17.art.htm