That Would Be awesome!!

Nothing is free

If they're gonna do that the least they can do is put a telescreen in every room too. That way I can get the latest news about the war with Eastasia, and i won't even have to leave the house to do the Two Minute Hate........

This is how paradigm shifts and social/scientific/technological revolutions happen. I say go for it... open it up!

Since there is no service that is "free", I would rather have multiple companies competing for my business than government bureaucrats peeping through my business. This sounds like the first sign of censorship.

They already read all the Internet traffic and monitor phone calls. Project Vigilant

http://www.forbes.com/sites/firewall/2010/08/01/stealthy-government-contractor-monitors-u-s-internet-providers-says-it-employed-wikileaks-informant/

I'm 45 miles from Chicago and cannot get DSL or Cable of ANY kind. I also can't get WiMax.

In theory this sounds great.....but whats the catch? Higher taxes? Censorship?

Mike, I know that's what you learned in school, but look at the reality. Our "free market", let them compete for my business system has resulted in an oligopoly of overpriced inferior service. Check out the prices and internet speeds in South Korea, Japan and Europe. We've been deluded into thinking we have great Internet service and we don't !

But on the other hand what gives the despots better control than having the ability to shut down communication with the rest of the world? FREE internet? FREE Telephone? SOPHISTICATED HEALTH CARE MONITORING? All of this provided by the same group of inane politicians who have nothing on they're minds but getting re-elected, collecting free healthcare and huge pensions for themselves. If they can't balance the budget, where in the hell are they planning to get the money for more free stuff? Oh wait, I remember now. I'm locking my millions in a safe at home where Uncle Sam can't touch it.

One further question, Doesn't anyone who thinks this is a good idea remember reading 1984 by George Orwell.

Yes, the tyrannical despotism throughout Europe, the UK and South Korea is chilling. Not.

This would be a security nightmare. If you hop on any neighbors unprotected wifi, and you have the computer smarts, you can hack their pc or share their session.

On top of that, you think AT&T/Comcast/Megapath/etc will stand by while many of their customers drop off the paid service?

Yea!! And imagine if some punk steals your wi-fi, hacks into your personal CD collection of Peter Gabriel and blasts "In Your Eyes" on his Ipad, to steal the heart of your daughter...
Damn immigrants!

There will be a massive cost associated with this, it will stop dead all expansion of WiFi service areas becasue there will be no incentive to expand, and if you think the government can manage ANYTHING better than a market driven private sector you're delusional.

BTW, somebody is going to have to pay for installers to get unionized double digit raises and get taxpayer highly subsidized pensions at age 55. It'll be YOU!

We made airport screeners federal employees and they brought us unnecessary "groping" searches and other violations of our privacy and civil rights, at many times the private cost for the same quality of employee.

Government is the "anti-Midas". Whatever they touch doesn't turn to gold, it turns to $hit!