Philadelphia’s council planned to offer high-speed wireless internet throughout the city, at a cost of around $US10 million. But as Lawrence Lessig writes in Wired Magazine, Pennsylvania’s Governor signed into law a bill “prohibiting local government from offering free Wi-Fi”:

“…this sort of insanity is raging across the US today. Pushed by lobbyists, at least 14 states have passed legislation similar to Pennsylvania’s. I’ve always wondered what almost $1 billion spent on lobbying state lawmakers gets you. Now I’m beginning to see.”

I’m not sure if Sydney’s Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, is considering a free wi-fi rollout, but it would be interesting to see if Premier Bob Carr would try to stop her…

McDonald’s has offered to pay high profile rappers $5 every time a song “namechecking” (mentioning) the “Big Mac” is played.

“Even as food companies pay lip service to the idea of responsible marketing, they increasingly turn to new and deceitful ways of targeting children,” - Dr Susan Linn, Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood (USA).

Read the whole story on BBC