An article in today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer entitled "Telecom Industry Attacks City-Run Wi-Fi" looks at the ongoing battle over citywide Wi-Fi deployments. The article quotes Douglas Boone, CEO of Iowa phone company Premier Communications, as saying that setting up a city-owned network is like having "City Hall opening a chain of grocery stores or gas stations."

Already, 14 states have expressed their agreement with Boone's perspective by passing laws limiting or prohibiting city-run wireless networks -- but there's a large continent that holds the opposite view, including companies like EarthLink and influential politicos like John McCain.