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this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2023
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Even while Trump's idiot was in charge, tampering with the mail was a federal offense.
And I don't imagine it being totally public. USPS would own the network, and companies would pay them to sell access. This would allow dozens of ISPs, all offering different levels of service, without needing local monopolies. It would look a lot like dial up ISPs: You could use AOL, EarthLink, NetZero, or any of a handful of small, local ISPs.
The USPS would then contract with companies to maintain the networks, but since they own it they can regulate the ISPs a lot more closely on a host of issues. Plus it would give free access to all online government services.
I could get behind something like that, though I do wonder how big a difference that would really necessarily make. Cell phone network providers have to lease spectrum ranges from the government, but it's not as if that market is actually robust. Beyond that, Congress is perfectly able to pass regulation on ISPs, but doesn't for a variety of stupid political reasons. I'm not sure how those couldn't equally apply to USPS oversight (perhaps even more cheaply, since you'd have fewer people to ~~bribe~~ I mean, lobby).
I don't really have an issue with in in principle, but I'm not convinced it would inherently make things much better either.