For years, the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance had boasted that creating ad hoc community cells of 802.11 access points might someday swamp 3G cellular. But when someone like Mike Hathaway of Austin Ventures says, "3G may never happen," you know Wi-Fi cell self-organizing has hit a critical juncture.

I've compared 802.11 and peer-to-peer MP3 file sharing, which neighborhood Wi-Fi proponents have shot down, reminding me that there is nothing even slightly questionable about broadband access sharing, as there might be with Napster and its ilk. True, some cable TV multisystem operators might try to inflict guilt for giving neighbors access with a cable-modem connection and a Wi-Fi access point, but at the end of the day, there is little the MSOs can do about it.

But the real analogy between point-to-point files and WLAN sharing is in the issue of control. I can set up an FTP site, work with artists independently to establish royalty micropayments, and, most important, not assume that there is a profitability model in developing an MP3 labor of love (the inherent mistake made by Shawn Fanning at Napster). Or, I can download my favorite songs from e-music and PressPlay, relieving myself of Webmaster duties, but always wondering if the payments I make ever get into the pockets of my favorite artists.

Similarly, it's easy in the early days of 802.11 de facto cell creation to wave a fist and shout, "The people, unwired, will never get tired!" When your neighborhood access point is out there on its own, one needn't worry about roaming interfaces and "hot-spot" coalition creation. But after a few months of grueling community support meetings, it sure looks like relief when someone like Boingo Wireless offers to run your access point.

And isn't it the nature of all revolutions to accept Starbucks sponsorship at one point or another? I am not one of those who believe that for-profit corporations inherently run everything better, including schools and health care. I'd like to hope that community clusters of WLANs run from the grass roots can survive the inevitable period of bureaucratization. But I'm afraid that, as more ISPs figure that managed WLAN service is the next big thing, the easiest path for most WLAN hot spots is to take on a corporate logo. This isn't a symbol of failure; it just shows that grass roots organizing involves a lot of hard and thankless work.