The New York Times reports this morning on a new internet telephone service from Pudding Media, promising "free, unlimited calls to any phone in North America."  As you might expect, there's a catch, or more precisely, a detour.  You see, a funny thing happens as your digital banter bounces across the Net: every word is routed through Pudding Media's servers in Fremont, CA, where voice recognition software picks up key words, and triggers relevant advertisements to appear on your screen. 

For years, PRI has been warning San Francisco officials that their so-called “free Wi-Fi” idea was guaranteed to be a failure. Finally, they realize it. In late August, Earthlink pulled out of a misguided plan to supply the city with free Wi-Fi, saying it was no longer economically viable for the company. This is a big policy win for freedom and reflects the reality that my colleagues and I presented in a study published last February: that municipal Wi-Fi systems, otherwise known as government controlled Internet systems, always end in failure.