According to EFF co-founder, John Gilmore (pictured), speaking at SOFCON, one of the reason the municipal WiFi project failed apart was that it was tied to tracking the location of everyone using the network and keeping that information forever in big Google database in the sky. And in addition to creating that privacy violation, trying to make money selling ads to those people.

"It was not a public utility... why in free municipal wireless network does it need to know who you are? And when we raised this issue with the city and Google... they were unwilling to budge on it. And that was one of the issue that hung us up all the way to the Board of Supervisors. And then Earthlink decided that they were any money to make anyway... I don't trust them with my information", said Gilmore.

GPS, receive only

Gilmore wish for a "Carterfone Decision" in the wireless world... expects a lot of mobile access through networks that are not run by the carriers!

During his introductory comments Gilmore mentioned the FCC's 1968 "Carterfone Decision" which authorised anyone to plug any devices into the carriers network. Reminds you of something?

"The Internet was created by going around the carriers. And what enabled that was that old Carterfone Decision that let you plug whatever you want into their network. The result was that people could innovate at their own speed instead of the speed of the carriers wanted to see innovation happening. And I'm afraid that we've lost that principle in the wireless market. That as the vendors talk about reducing churn by putting in sticky services i.e. ways to lock their customers in as opposed to offering them ways to do whatever they want on the network and they'll stick around until they can do whatever they want".