[TriLUG] OT: URGENT: H.129 to be heard in Thursday's Finance Committee!

[David Burton]

On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 11:40 AM, Mark Turner <jmarkturner at gmail.com> wrote:


>  One exception: if Wilson were to give their service away for free (like
>> the
>> free WiFi at Moore Square in Raleigh), that would *not* violate the law.
>> The law will only apply to services offered for a fee.
>>
>>
>
> You are wrong. This bill will shut down Raleigh's free WiFi service. The
> City of Raleigh's attorneys have thoroughly reviewed the bill and that's one
> of the reasons Raleigh opposes it.
>
>


Wrong.  *Read the bill*!  (Do I sound like a broken record?)

Here's the relevant provision:

*(3) Communications service. – The provision of cable, video
programming, telecommunications, broadband, or high-speed Internet access
service to the public, or any sector of the public, for a fee, regardless of
the technology used to deliver the service. *

That's in the definitions section.  The bill applies to city-owned
communications services.  The term "communications service" is defined to
exclude free services.

So if some City of Raleigh attorney told you that HB-129 would shut down
free services then tell him what I told you: *Read the bill*!  (Tell him to
look on page 1, line 33.)

BTW, there have been two editions of this bill (so far), but I checked them
both: the "for a fee" phrase is included in both of them.

Dave