Wi-Fi mania: When whole cities are public hot spots

摘要

What is a city obligated to provide for its citizens? Well-maintained streets, traffic lights, sewer and water, police and fire—okay, sure. As for taverns, gas stations, and peep shows, most folks seem to agree that the government should have a more limited role, even though one could argue that some of them are economic necessities (and I won't say which ones). The question of where exactly government ends and the private sector begins is one we've wrestled with throughout our nation's history. (What would Ben Franklin think about privatizing the post office?) But at certain moments—like 1971, when Am-trak sprang from the wreckage of the old Penn Central—this dilemma comes to the fore. Welcome to another of those moments. The issue: municipally backed Wi-Fi.