City ignores sick wi-fi sufferers

SANTA FE CITY COUNCIL has unanimously approved a plan to provide wireless Internet service in libraries and council buildings, and told a small group of people who claim the network will make them sick to go forth and multiply.

Under the plan free wireless will be plugged into three public libraries, a convention centre still under construction, the City Hall, the municipal airport and two recreation centres.

Arthur Firstenberg, a leading opponent of the proposal, threatened to sue the council after the decision was announced. He called the vote a disaster.

He claims that electromagnetic pollution caused by wi-fi will keep them from using the libraries or attending meetings in city hall.

City attorney Frank Katz, said that there is nothing to stop the objectors bringing a case. However there was no situation in law where hypersensitivity to wireless signals has been found to be a disability, nor has any case identified wi-fi as its cause.

One of the councillors pointed out that wireless service bleeds into the council chambers from nearby businesses, so opponents wouldn't gain anything by having the city eliminate it there. And if this was the case, why didn’t the people who claimed to be wi-fi sensitive who attended the meeting pick this up? µ

L'Inq
AP