Say That Again

Say That Again

by Mike Masnick





Courts Freak Out That People Might Actually Use Their Wireless Networks

from the what-will-they-think-of-next? dept

This story seems bizarre, but apparently a bunch of courts are somehow unprepared for the fact that people might actually use the WiFi networks they installed. Most of the article focuses on a reporter sending out realtime updates for a court case via the WiFi, leading to this absolutely classic quote from someone from the court: "In my life, I would have never thought you could do any of that. When we put the wireless network in about two years ago, we didn't think anybody would even use it." Yeah, they just installed it for the hell of it. How dare someone actually use it! The rest of the article goes on to discuss just how "dangerous" this situation is, and how courts don't understand what a risk these networks are. It also refers to "WiFi" as the "informal" name for wireless networks -- when it's actually very much the formal, certified name for them.

3 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 

Reader Comments (rss)

(Flattened / Threaded)

  1. get out more

    by Ron - Dec 21st, 2004 @ 6:38am

    "It also refers to "WiFi" as the "informal" name for wireless networks -- when it's actually very much the formal, certified name for them.".......Mike, true or not, that fact that this bothers you tells me you need to get out more.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  2. WiFi?

    by bob - Dec 21st, 2004 @ 8:54am

    I have always considered "WiFi" to be some bastard marketing term to make wireless networking more "accessible".
    I'd always called it 802.11b ... now I have an 802.11g network.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  3. wifi

    by mark - Dec 21st, 2004 @ 9:01am


    Actually, not to be nitpicky, but WiFi is just a trade group that ceritifies that one vendor plays with the other. Not that that's a bad thing.
    The formal name for them would be 802.11[abg...].
    So, unusual, but they actually got it right in the article. :)

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

Add Your Comment

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here
Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
Plain Text HTML Save me a cookie
  • Plain Text: A CRLF will be replaced by break <br> tag, all other allowable HTML is intact
  • HTML: No formatting of any kind is done without explicitly being written in
  • Allowed HTML Tags: <b> <i> <p> <a> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <hr> <tt>
Close
Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here
Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
Plain Text HTML Save me a cookie
Search Techdirt
And now, a word from our Sponsors..
Subscribe to Techdirt's Daily Email Newsletter

Techdirt's Daily Email Newsletter

Related Stories
Close
E-mail It