Alright. It’s time to get political!

UTOPIA and city rights at stake

Here in the great state of Utah, there’s a consulting group called DynamicCity that has worked with several Utah municipalities to put together a “metronet“ project called UTOPIA.

At the barebones level, UTOPIA consists of several communities in on a fiberoptic network that would provide high-speed digital services (phone, television, Internet, and more) to homes and businesses. At a more detailed level, UTOPIA is an open network which allows (and encourages) private service providers to participate as providers over the UTOPIA network.

When I first heard about UTOPIA 2-3 years ago, I thought the idea was a great idea, but then I started hearing and reading things about how UTOPIA was going to be government operated. That scared me. I’ve always believed there’s not much the government can do as good or better than private enterprise.

Fortunately, I’ve learned a lot more about UTOPIA and now I’m completely convinced it is a superb idea and I want it to happen as fast as possible.

Who doesn’t want UTOPIA to happen? There are two groups of people who have come out against UTOPIA: Telecommunications companies operating monopolies which would be in jeopardy by UTOPIA (Qwest and Comcast) and fanatical conservative groups who feel UTOPIA is doomed to fail leaving taxpayers to pick up the pieces and bear the debt (See UtopiaNot.com).

Qwest and Comcast have lobbied the Utah state legislature to do something to stop UTOPIA. Senator John Hickman sponsored Senate Bill 66 which proposes that counties and cities be disallowed from operating, constructing, etc. any kind of telecommunications services such as cable television or “public telecommunications service.”

While the bill doesn’t mention UTOPIA specifically, it sounds like debates about this bill have been only about UTOPIA. This bill is anti-UTOPIA.

S.B. 66 passed committee this last week. One senator voted against it. The rest voted for it. Pete Ashdown of XMission attended the committee meeting and said that Senator Ed Maybe made a comment indicating he thought fiberoptics was a dead technology because his cell phone keeps getting smaller.

I guess Senator Mayne thinks wireless technology is going to overtake traditional networking technology like copper and fiber. I guess this just goes to show how ignorant the legislative body can be on high-tech issues.

The truth is, wireless technology has always lagged behind “physical-link” technology like fiber and copper. It’s more costly and considerably more difficult to establish a digital wireless network than it is to run cable. Case in point: The fastest (standard) wireless technology you can buy right now is 801.11g which promises speeds up to 54 megabits per second. The actual throughput of most 802.11g networks is considerably slower - more like 10 megabits per second. Meanwhile, you can go buy 1 gigabit network cards for computers and run category 5e or 6 cable between them and transfer hundreds of megabits per second... and at a fraction of the cost of the slower wireless technology.

Okay, I probably didn’t need to go off on that technology comparison exposition, but it felt needed.

So, S.B. 66 will probably be coming up for a vote in the next few days. I e-mailed a letter to all the senators today to let them know I feel they should vote no. I also sent e-mail to the local Linux user groups to let them know what was at stake. One person on the SLLUG mailing list responded with, what I thought was, a very good point:

It is a very good point. Cities should have the power to do what they want with their money.

Here’s the letter I sent to Utah senators:

<div class="quotedexcerpt">I am writing to strongly recommend that you vote NO on Senate
Bill 66 (Telecommunications Ammendments). This bill represents an
inappropriate measure of state government meddling in the affairs
of municipalities where there probably is no need to do so. Simply
said, it's a waste of the legislature's time and Utah's money.</div>

<div class="quotedexcerpt">I am founder and president of Iodynamics, a northern Utah-based
company.  One of our core businesses is helping businesses find the
best way to attain Internet connectivity. Qwest, Comcast (and AT&amp;T
before them) have been of no help to us. Qwest has rolled out
broadband services very slowly in limited areas. Comcast and AT&amp;T
have completely neglected the business sector in most areas to
serve only residential customers. </div>

<div class="quotedexcerpt">As the operator of the Utah Internet Service Provider List
website &lt; http://www.utahisps.com/ &gt; we know local ISPs would jump
at the chance to provide Utah businesses with high-quality
broadband Internet service if an infrastructure like UTOPIA were in
place. </div>

<div class="quotedexcerpt">As a conservative libertarian, I had mixed feelings about
government's role in providing this infrastructure when I first
learned of UTOPIA. But having learned more about the project, I'm
convinced this project is good for Utah Internet service providers,
Utah businesses (because they'll be able to get the Internet
services they've wanted and needed for years), and Utah
communities. </div>

<div class="quotedexcerpt">Passing S.B. 66 only helps telecommunications monopolies that
are not interested in providing the services Utahns want and need.
</div>

<div class="quotedexcerpt">A NO vote shows you are interested in Utah businesses and
households being able to take advantage of affordable broadband
Internet service provided by their choice of Internet service
provider. </div>

<div class="quotedexcerpt">Please do not make this more difficult than it needs to be.</div>


<div class="quotedexcerpt">Sincerely, </div>
<div class="quotedexcerpt">Doran L. Barton, president, Iodynamics LLC</div>

What’s up with Bush Hate?

Lots and lots of people hate George W. Bush. I don’t get it. I have yet to find a really sensible answer to why Bush Haters hate George Bush.

For example, on Orkut, there are communities for various topics, poltical views, musical groups, etc. There is a community called BushIn2004 which claims 54 members. There is also a community called AnyoneButBushin2004 which claims 1121 members.

That’s a big difference. Obviously a lot of people feel strong enough about not wanting Bush reelected... but what are they saying?

Okay, so this person feels the whole Saddam Hussein thing was orchestrated, choreographed by the Bush administration for political gain?! Eh... I dunno. It’s fun to speculate, but who would root their belief in something like this?

Okay... this guy needs to get out of his basement... and out of that ridiculous elven cloak.

I support George Bush. Not because I agree with all his policy, but because he’s (a) the best we’ve got compared to the democratic nominees - especially now that Leiberman is out of the running and (b) he leads with morality.

Bill Clinton ruled by statistical concensus based on public polls. We don’t know what Bill Clinton really stood for. I have a better idea of what Hillary Clinton stands for than what Bill Clinton stood for. He was just a puppet, he had the DNC’s hand up his ass and pollsters tugging on his strings from above... and the country went into a recession.

George W. Bush has moral conviction. He’s has nowhere near the conviction of Ronald Reagan. He’s not 1/100th the speaker (or speech writer) Reagan was either. But, he seems to realize that our country, its government, and our way of life is not just the product of a bunch of guys sitting around tables in Philadelphia in the 18th century — It’s also the product of God.

No democratic republic has ever lasted as long as the United States of America. Why? Because it wasn’t just the creation of man. Even if you’re an atheist, you still have to concede that our country’s structure was designed with the help of some higher power. If you can’t admit that, you need to review your history.

Sometimes I wonder if the reason people hate Bush so intently is because... he’s right.