More on Comcast

[rlk at alum.mit.edu (Robert L Krawitz)]

   From: dsr at tao.merseine.nu
   Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 19:23:11 +0000

   On Mon, Jul 21, 2003 at 02:19:13PM -0400, Rich Braun wrote:

   > Cable TV companies are set up to audit theft of cable service.
   > They are stumped by wi-fi.  If enough people gang up on them and
   > vote no to $50 service with their pocketbooks, and the ISP
   > doesn't respond by offering a $25 service, something is going to
   > have to give.  If they come up with a way to stamp out wi-fi
   > theft, then some other technology could be adapted.  The
   > collision course is pretty clear today, though.

   So clear, in fact, that Speakeasy decided to roll with the punch.

   http://www.speakeasy.net/main.php?page=pr070803

   Precis: Order service from Speakeasy, share connectivity with your
   neighbors, Speakeasy will bill them the amount you select and
   credit you with 50% of what they collect. Your neighbors get mail,
   news, and other ISP value-add from Speakeasy.

That's a bit more than just rolling with the punch; that's getting way
out in front.  They're offering you a service by which you can have
your very own ISP, with zero startup cost (beyond the WiFi that you'll
already have for your own use), and they'll even do the billing and
tech support for you.

I don't care if I have to pay $30/month more for (nominally) less
bandwidth than the cable companies.  Any company that's both as
enlightened and as creative as this (they're using their creativity to
help their customers, rather than to put roadblocks in their way) is
one that really deserves my business.