there was a company last year that supposedly was going to harness the static electricity in the atmosphere using balloons tethered by cables to the ground. the concept seemed quiet plausible -- a bunch of people bought their stock based on the promise of the "science" -- until further thinking deflated the hoopla. with loon, the issue i see is how much fuel is it going to take to keep the balloons in place if it is not tethered to the ground. since they are expecting to "service" remote mountainous areas, i do not see the balloons staying long enough to actually make a great dent in the areas' lack of internet service. there is, however, the concept of "a little is better than nothing at all" so it would still be useful if you get past the issues with the monitored traffic ....

thinking some more, the majority of the population in those so-called remote areas would most likely not be able to afford the computers to connect to the internet so very much the only ones who would be able to take regular advantage of the internet service would be the occasional researcher in the area, special ops units hunting for deer, and the terrorists looking to update their facebook pages. the concept is altruistic but the reality does not necessarily want to cooperate.