Jeremy wrote:
] For more informaiton on this topic, Google the two terms
] "Asset-based telecom" and the "paradox of commoditization".
] You can also search my MemeStreams weblog for these terms.

I read your meme on the Cook report article when you posted it. Besides the crappy typos and aloof language, I agree 100%. I've been saying the same thing since 1997, except then, even I thought I was a crackpot for saying it. It wasn't until 2000 when the market collapsed and telecom lead the charge that I realized that I was right.

It's not just telecom either. It's anything that is impacted by digital media and communications, which is to say everything. It's all being marginalized. There's no way that any of these current business models are going to survive. Certainly not the scale that they enjoy today. And the wretching and clawing that these industries will attempt could potentially throw the US economy into a vicious cycle, and drag pretty much everyone else with it.

My personal stance on Intellectual Property, Copyright, and the Patent process is that it should be completely eliminated. Our idea that you should somehow become individually wealthy because you created something is ridiculous. This isn't 1895.

Under a system that had no barriers to communication, true innovation would explode and the benefits to mankind would completely dwarf whatever social or economic impact the shift would have. Think about it: every human could contribute their effort to innovation, and every human would benefit, allowing more contribution to innovation. It's a gracious cycle unlike one ever imagined.

Now granted, that might be idealistic to the point of being impossible. So I'm willing to settle on a compromise on that continuum. But the point I'm trying to make is that we should be moving towards *elimination* of all barriers, not expansion of barriers. More barriers seem to be the current climate in the US. Witness my work with the TN Digital Freedom Network (tndf.net) for just a little taste of how this is hurting instead of helping.

RE: NYC: Leverage Fiber, Offer Free Wi-Fi