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Comment by protomyth | Hacker News Reader

There are states that have that type of law far before Time Warner. The original purpose was to keep corrupt politicians from using the power of the state to destroy opponents. Some states actually have specific businesses the state can engage in their constitutions.

Allowing a business owned by someone who can regulate / inspect every competitor out of business isn't seen as very fair.

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That's irrelevant since we are specifically talking about the NC law.

The NC law was very specifically targeted at municipal broadband projects and was effectively written by Time Warner to prevent underserved customers from having another option. It's as simple as that and it's disgusting.

Time Warner didn't pass the law. A legislature passed it and a governor signed it. Looking at the part you quoted, other states have passed similar wording (which doesn't have words targeting a specific industry) and considered it good governance to keep the state from competing with their citizens. Unless you believe Time Warner bribed half the legislature and the governor, its very relevant to know why the politicians found the wording acceptable.

Why the found the wording acceptable? Its called lobbying. And the poster before you said that Time Warner wrote it. Not that they passed it and signed it. The state wouldn't be competing with its citizens. The municipality they live in would be.

The municipality is a unit created by the state government, and states have passed these laws to keep governments under them in check.

So, you believe that Time Warner was able to influence half the legislature with lobbying? Is there some reporting on what they offered?

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