hot spots in the U.S.

[Charles Martin]

> From: William L Carr <Jkirk3279 at beanstalk.net>
>
> (Oh, that's right, the State of Florida doesn't respect Registration
> cards...(just a joke..:>)   ))
>
Sadly, it's not a joke really. I live in Florida and I can tell you 
that the rich and middle-class people (read: Republicans) here really 
and truly don't give a dang about the voter's rights if the voters are 
poor/black/Democrat/Other party.  :(  But that's not what we're here to 
discuss.

> It seems to me therefore that anyone who wants privacy
> can get it easily.    And those who don't care, that's like free
> parking....

For now, I think your analogy is correct. Jack is right that today's 
Ashcroftian computer laws *could* be used against  people who hop on to 
unprotected hot spots, but whether a court would laugh it out is quite 
debateable if it's shown that the wi-fi was deliberately unprotected, 
that security was not compromised and that the person only used it like 
they would a hotspot at Starbucks ... to read their email and surf a 
bit.

It's one of those things we'll have to wait until the Ashcroft Justice 
Dept (which apparently doesn't have much else to do) makes some cases 
and find out the limits of bandwidth hopping.

> So, I left.  Noplace to even test the new Airport card.

You don't have a *Starbucks* near you! Praise the Maker, they haven't 
gotten *everywhere* just yet!! :)

>     But I did
> open my iBook in the parking lot.  Hmm, there's a signal there.   Guess
> the Airport card works, anyway.

I think your ISP was just confused. Maybe they thought you wanted to 
plug into their T3 or something.

>   The local Library said THEY were putting in a wireless network.   I
> had asked, because there's a library thirty miles away that has a
> wireless network and loans out iBooks (cool, huh?).
>
> So, I came back in September, and the desk librarian (anti-Apple, by
> the way) said, "The wireless network is up now, it was a little rocky
> for the first two days but it's fine now".   So I asked how a Patron
> logs in.
>
> Want to guess what happened next?

Moral of the story: stop asking. People are morons who don't understand 
the technology they are using. Particularly PC users.

Just open the iBook and check your signal. If there is an open, 
unprotected wifi around you, surf to your heart's content. If they 
don't like it there are steps THEY can take to stop it -- but they 
won't because they're morons.

If you're not trying to access THEIR computer systems or files, then 
you're in the lightest possible part of this  gray area. Light enough 
to be mistaken for clear.

And before anybody challenges me, I paid my lawyer his hourly fee to 
get this opinion. He added that he would greatly enjoy defending 
someone sued by a library for doing this, but doubted it would ever 
even get as far as a judge. QUOTE: "Even the clerk would laugh it out 
of court."

> Seems that the library board decided that Patrons using their WiFi
> network constituted the Library acting as an ISP, and they'd ruled
> against that two years ago.   I'm waiting for things to cool off a
> little, and then I'll write a letter to a Library Board member we do
> business with.
>
Unless they're on very VERY limited bandwidth, it's ridiculous of them 
to attempt to restrict access really.

> As for getting caught... ask Randy what he thinks.

Very good suggestion.

> it's often the Rights you didn't realize you had that
> you'll miss when they start taking them away.   The Ninth Amendment
> notwithstanding.

Welcome to Uberfuhrer Ashcroft's America, bub.

_Chas_
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