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Open WiFi To Become A Liability In The UK Under Digital Economy Bill
from the unintended-consequences dept
Back in January, while in France, I experienced firsthand one of the "unintended consequences" of France rushing forwarding with a "three strikes" law that kicks people off the internet based on accusations (not convictions). Because of that, the idea of open WiFi is now pretty much gone (which, amusingly, was pissing off the very same music execs who were such big fans of the law). It seems that something similar might be happening in the UK, as the folks behind the much maligned Digital Economy Bill have admitted that there will be no exceptions for anyone operating an open WiFi network, even a library or a university. Thus, if a library had an open WiFi network, and it received a few accusations of file sharing, Peter Mandelson could decide to kick them off the internet for as long as he would like.
While it doesn't technically "outlaw" open WiFi, it does put such a big liability on it that it leads to the same result. It effectively makes it so that no one, not even community organizations, will want to offer open WiFi. At a time when the UK government claims it's trying to encourage greater connectivity, it seems pretty silly to put in place a law that could lead to exactly the opposite.
While it doesn't technically "outlaw" open WiFi, it does put such a big liability on it that it leads to the same result. It effectively makes it so that no one, not even community organizations, will want to offer open WiFi. At a time when the UK government claims it's trying to encourage greater connectivity, it seems pretty silly to put in place a law that could lead to exactly the opposite.
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Re:
The MSM is corrupt, they pretty much ignore the situation thanks to bogus laws that enable them to monopolize the airwaves and infrastructure hence effectively ensuring that this stuff gets censored.
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Free but not Open WiFi
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Re: Free but not Open WiFi
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Re: Free but not Open WiFi
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Time to kick the bums out
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Re: Time to kick the bums out
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Re: Re: Time to kick the bums out
Who would they vote for anyway? Even the Lib Dem's seem to want to be tough on freedom and the causes of freedom when it comes to the internet. I'm sceptical that the Pirate Party are going to be running, this election.
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Re: Time to kick the bums out
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the funny thing is...
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Re: the funny thing is...
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Re: the funny thing is...
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Re: Re: the funny thing is...
if i turn off the wifi, openzone AND BT FON still run.
glad to hear that there are separate IPs but im still not entirely happy about sharing bandwidth. although saying that, im on the third floor of my house and we either have lead-lined walls or wifi signals are rubbish because you cant get a wifi signal in the downstairs rooms... outside the front is another matter
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Re: the funny thing is...
If it's a pay service, then it isn't open wifi.
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Hmm, I wonder...
I wonder who gets to make the allegations? On the assumption that networked photocopiers/laser-printers can be found infringing (Would You Believe Copyright Infringement Notices Are Based On Faulty Information?), I imagine that there is the (good) chance that an IP address in the Houses of Parliament could be found to be downloading torrents. Certainly if the French government, under Sarkozy, is anything to go by...
Could we get the Houses of Parliament/the British Government suspended from the internet? =)
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Re: Hmm, I wonder...
From a few trees would be preferable.
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Re:
just as an additional thought... If i own an iphone and a netbook and neither have a wired network card, turning off the wifi would not help me it would just prevent me from using my internet on my devices.
not exactly a "simple fix" to turn it off as im sure there are people out there who dont have wired networking built in to all of their network(ed) devices.
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It occurs to me...
On the other hand, x-prizes (and similar contests) produce results. Perhaps we should have more open contests as to our new laws/institutions/procedures (et al) and less legislation.
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a beneficial side effect
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and SO it BEGINS
NOW when they will close up your holes YOU WERE quiet
NOW they close others giving free you get noisey
go join the fight against ACTA
that will derail them permanently
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=288885939910
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Re: and SO it BEGINS
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Re: Re: and SO it BEGINS
There is a reason they won't let the public look at it.
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Re: Re: Re: and SO it BEGINS
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I hope these execs realize the public harm they cause just to promote their selfishness. They only care about the harm these laws cause when it affects them negatively, otherwise they could care less. Then again, these executives probably don’t follow most of the IP (and other bogus) laws they pass.
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Whos an ISP?
For example, if BT's telecom operations brought in more income than it's Internet operations, then it would no longer be considered an ISP. Then all it would take is 3 accusations against some of its customers for BT itself to be cut off from the Internet (since they wouldn't qualify for the ISP exemption). Of course, I'm sure they're planning to use selective enforcement so that that would never happen to BT.
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Open WiFi
There is a simple answer that defeats ALL this red tape. Leave your wifi unprotected. As anyone can connect no one can prove who is responsible - unless they're using a credit card. The defence lawyers will have a field day with this.
The BT network thing mentioned already partially defeats this ridiculous and completely ignorant attempt to censor the net. When WILL the idiots learn that's never going to work.
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Re: Open WiFi
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Open WiFi
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Free WiFi but not Open
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