Alongside freedom of religion and protection against cruel and unusual punishment, Internet access through a municipal Wi-Fi network is now to be reckoned a basic human right. Or so says San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, who announced a free wireless-access project called TechConnect in August 2005.

The proclamation was characteristic of Newsom; he combines a proclivity for media grandstanding with a weird indifference to mundane political chores like passing legislation and brokering deals among contrary factions. Still, Newsom is hardly alone in supporting urban wireless Internet coverage: some advocates of the technology argue that it could bring disadvantaged Americans the same dramatic benefits that a $100 laptop would supposedly provide in the developing world. With local governments asserting that such networks could cut their operational costs and boost economic development, more than 300 municipal Wi-Fi projects are now proceeding in the United States, according to data compiled by CNET.