An excellent BusinessWeek editorial today by Tropos Networks CEO Ron Sege argues that it's extremely dangerous to consider taxing Wi-Fi services -- which he says could easily happen in the near future.

While the Bush administration has promised not to tax Wi-Fi, Sege says, it has left that door open by including a "user fee" for unlicensed spectrum in its new budget. If they don't plan to tax Wi-Fi services, Sege writes, "It's hard to discern precisely what is intended by this obscure proposal."

And with huge deficits looming, Sege suggests, it will be extremely tempting to impose that tax on Wi-Fi after all. But free and unlicensed spectrum, he writes, has spawned investment and innovation -- which taxes would quickly kill.

"Short of a law banning municipal broadband networks, it's hard to imagine something so inimical to competition and achieving universal access for all Americans," Sege writes.