The British Library, thanks to the efforts of the British Library Readers Forum, is to offer free wireless for a trial period of six months, starting in October. The BL was persuaded by the Forum's arguments that a free system was actually the easiest to operate and most in line with the Library's purpose of open access for all.
See this for the bad old days: http://tomroper.typepad.com/tr/2004/09/british_library.html
PS: on Saturday the Guardian ran a profile of Heather Brooke, without whom ( and her Your Right to Know blog) none of this would have happened:
