In San Francisco, Wi-Fi vs. red tape

San Francisco loves high tech. But there may be one thing it loves more: a good protest. And that could be causing problems for plans to offer free Internet access.

EarthLink and Google have been working with the city on a plan to offer free Wi-Fi for residents. But there have been several bureaucratic snags: A Google executive complained to the San Francisco Chronicle that the city's "slow negotiating style" and unreasonable demands are tying up the project.

But bureaucrats aren't the only ones causing problems. Blogger Davis Freeberg recounted a recent town hall meeting between the tech execs, city officials and local residents where "local political gadflies seemed to feel that EarthLink and Google providing free Wi-Fi to the citizens was akin to killing kittens because, they attacked (Google executive Chris) Sacca with a venom that was absolutely shocking."

"Some of the crazier demands that were suggested at the meeting included a 'requirement' for every San Francisco renter to sign a lease addendum with their landlords before being allowed to install a Wi-Fi card in their PC, forcing Google to agree to transport kids back and forth to the Zoo in their Google busses and a requirement for EarthLink to pay the electrical costs for running computers in order to prevent brownouts," Freeberg wrote in his blog.

Blog community response:

"Okay, if you are one of the nutjobs trying to prevent a free service, let me explain: The internet costs money now. Google wants to give it to you for free, by broadcasting off of lamp posts. If you don't want it, nothing happens to you. If you do, it is free. What is the problem?"
--Inside Google

"Just the fact that it's connected to the city has apparently set things up so that every local politician is somehow trying to link his or her pet project to the offering -- meaning that the entire effort is bogged down in a political mess. Perhaps it's time to start over with a real plan that serves a real need, rather than a pet project that makes a politician look good."
--Techdirt

"It's explicable that bureaucracy introduces delays, but uninformed crazy people may also extend the time-to-deployment for networks. I was warned by some Sfer's months ago that despite predictions of smooth sailing for a muni-Wi-Fi network getting off the ground—and fast—that the political situation in San Francisco requires that the nuttiest have as much equity in the process as the sanest."
--Wi-Fi Net News