> http://interactionlaw.com/wordpress/2006/08/28/culver-city-offers-free-wi-fi-enternot-access/
Culver City Offers Free Wi-fi ?EnterNot? Access
August 28th, 2006
Culver City is offering public wi-fi access to the Internet
(http://www.culvercitywifi.org/wifi_access.html) with two big
caveats: It?s not really the Internet, and to use it you agree to
give up your civil rights.
That?s right. First, they offer Internet access, but you must
agree to ?limited? Internet access. And they don?t mean limited
hours of the day, limited locations, or a limited amount of time
you can be on. No, when they say ?limited,? they mean that they
will censor access to parts of the Internet. (?By using this free
wireless network you are agreeing and acknowledging you have read
and accepted these terms and conditions of use, and this wireless
network provides only limited access to the Internet.?) In other
words, they do not offer Internet access at all. As the Dynamic
Platform Standards Project points out so well
(http://dpsproject.com/), anyone offering access to a ?limited
Internet? is engaged in false and deceptive advertising because a
?limited Internet? is an oxymoron.
Second, in order to gain the right to enjoy this free, public,
non-Internet access, no matter what you read in the Bill of
Rights (and the First Amendment, in particular) you must agree
that the government may abridge your freedom of speech and you
further agree that when it does so (as it promises to do), you
will not exercise your right to sue for the violation of your
First Amendment rights!
I?m not making this up. Here?s the fine print: ?Further, [by
using it] you are agreeing to waive any claims, including, but
not limited to First Amendment claims, that may arise from the
City and Agency?s decision to block access to ? matter and
websites [of its choosing] through this free wireless network ?.?
>From a legal standpoint, it is the same as if the Culver City
public library were offering you free access to newspapers, but
was first clipping out the articles it didn?t like and making you
agree not to sue for censorship if you wanted to read what was
left.
It?s starting to look like 1984. ?Freedom? means freedom to give
up your inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness if you want to have free access to the government?s
Internet - or ?EnterNot,? as the Culver City leadership might
call it. I?m a big fan of free, public Internet access, but
without the Doublespeak.
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