Alerts

• Oppose city-wide Wi-Fi. Why? Read Mark Longwood's speech at San Francisco City Hall, September 28th, 2005. (PDF)
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• Bad Reception: The Wireless Revolution in San Francisco. An award-wining, one-hour documentary film on San Francisco residents' ongoing resistance to the wireless industry. A critic's choice at the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Bad Reception screened at the Roxie Film Center in San Francisco in June 2006. Order it here.
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• Petition to stop RFID technology at the San Francisco Public Library. Privacy-threatening Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips are expensive and less costly alternatives already exist. Open the PDF petition here.

News and Events

Wireless industry agrees to voluntary microcell antenna moratorium.
On February 13, 2007, Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin introduced legislation imposing a 45-day moratorium on microcell antennas throughout San Francisco, while the Planning Department and Board of Supervisors consider legislation that would require all microcell antennas in the City to undergo the Conditional Use permit process. Currently, microcell antennas require only Accessory Use permits which result in no public notification of antennas proposed for residential buildings. (Read the Feb. 23, 2007 article in the San Francisco Examiner here.) All 11 Supervisors co-sponsored Supervisor Peskin’s moratorium legislation.

On March 6, 2007, the day of the scheduled Board vote on the moratorium, Supervisor Peskin announced that the wireless industry had voluntarily agreed to suspend applications for microcell antennas and the Board therefore continued its vote on the Board-imposed moratorium for 45 days.

This marks a major victory for San Francisco residents who have been resisting the placement of microcell antennas on or near their residential buildings. Currently, antennas proposed for mixed-use apartment buildings at Fulton & Masonic near the Panhandle and Guerrero & 18th Street in the Mission are scheduled for hearings at the Board of Appeals on Wednesday, August 1, 2007 beginning at 5:00 p.m. in Room 416 at City Hall.

Stay tuned for more information on these two appeals as the microcell legislation process unfolds.

In the Media

• Danger on the airwaves: Is the Wi-Fi revolution a health time bomb?
  It's on every high street and in every coffee shop and school. But experts have serious concerns about the effects of electronic smog from wireless networks linking our laptops and mobiles.
  The Independent, UK
  April 22, 2007, by Geoffrey Lean
  
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• Health fears lead schools to dismantle wireless networks,
  Times Online, UK
  November 20, 2006, by Joanna Bale
  
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• Carriers set roof antennas without residents' OK,
  San Francisco Examiner
  February 23, 2007, by Joshua Sabatini
  
  
• It's easy to spy on your Wi-Fi - Experts say home networks are particularly vulnerable,
  San Francisco Chronicle
  March 12, 2007, by Dan Fost
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• The WiFi Blues
  Your Own Health and Fitness
  March 28, 2006, by Jeffry Fawcett, PhD
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• The Trouble With Cell Towers
  Business Week
  August 31, 2006, by Joseph Pisani
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• Calling All Cell-Phone Antennas
  San Francisco Chronicle
  June 9, 2004, by Carol Lloyd
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