Saturday, October 25, 2008

Free the airwaves!


Google is running a campaign that I strongly support. It's called Free the Airwaves and it aims to re-purpose some analog television spectrum to something eminently useful: free wireless Internet service.

Remember that fuzzy static between channels on the old TVs? Today more than three-quarters of those radio airwaves, or "white space" spectrum, are completely unused. This vast public resource could offer a revolution in wireless services of all kinds, including universal wireless Internet. The FCC will soon decide whether to open this unused spectrum for general usage, and your voice matters -- a lot. So if you agree that freeing the white spaces represents a vote for the future of the Internet, please sign our petition and help spread the word about this campaign.

Who's opposed to it? You guessed it: folks like Verizon ("it's the network, stupid!") and others who tightly control their spectrum, keep innovation locked down to a minimum, and certainly don't want any competition.

You can sign the petition to lend your support. Let's beat down the government-sponsored telco monopolies and unleash a new generation of American innovation!

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