Really? This isn't the first battle that's been fought in this conflict: http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2010/07/north-carolina-kills-moratorium-on-muni-br

Really? This isn't the first battle that's been fought in this conflict: http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2010/07/north-carolina-kills-moratorium-on-muni-broadband.ars http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2010/07/north-carolina-k... I would just like to note the minuscule effect that victory had on the ultimate outcome. It seems to have merely delayed the inevitable. Take a look at the map in that article. The problem is that unless some kind of solid, pro-municipal broadband legislation comes down from the federal level, the big telecoms are going to fight a take-no-prisoners, state-by-state war of attrition. The big ISPs are well-heeled and, unfortunately, politics is a money game. Given the present situation, I just don't see things working well for municipal broadband in the long run. There has to be a game changer of some sort. Let's pose a hypothetical. Say she vetoes it and somehow the legislature upholds the veto. All the ISPs would have to do to get the situation back in their favor is to run some TV ads decrying big government. Ordinary people will line the streets protesting government takeover of the internet. Within weeks the whole thing would be rolled back, and we're back where we started. It is great for us technologically savvy people to sit over here and be hopeful, but the reality is that the most effective way to fight back against this kind of legislation is to educate consumers about how things could be. The impetus is on Netflix and similar companies to get ordinary people to place more value on better bandwidth offerings. Until then, we will continue to see these types of setbacks.