When the Phorm issue blew up I started thinking about the lack of alternatives and monopolies of the network. This naturally gets you thinking about setting up your own ISP and network. The way I see it is big bad business has lost the mandate of heaven by bullying and cheating customers. With flat growth and increasing demand they haven't grasped the idea they're a utility behind the curve and are trying to create a walled garden where people get what they're issued with and bled for every coin they can squeeze. This narrow minded and selfish approach is beginning to develop an ego bubble and a "lass roots" scheme would help pop that.

Back when the internet first started properly in Britain many businesses shared internet connections as fast and constant access was expensive. Some businesses were still stuck on dial up until flat rate access kicked off a few years later. The look and feel of this was pretty much shared by domestic customers as well. Since then things have improved and prices have fallen but the technical delivery is still slow and prices higher than the utlity status internet delivery really justifies. Unless transport gets much better and cheaper I don't see much opportunity for inclusive all you can eat access to intellectual property taking off.

Government gets blamed for a lot and, sometimes, the people get what they deserve, but business isn't some magical force that's above it all. Business has a role and responsibility to play in creating and sustaining a better future for everyone, and the chest beating authoritarianism and legalistic greed they're showing in the British internet market is beginning to look backward and out of touch. In some ways that makes me glad they tried to pull a scam like Phorm because it's a wakeup call. Instead of cowering in the face of their carefully crafted authority and privileged lobby access, it's shaping up that government and people will call their bluff.