Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[Sil Greene <Sil_greene AT unc.edu>]

.:> The official answer is yes.  Connecting to a wide open 
.:> network, wireless or wired, is trespassing if you do not have 
.:> permission to be on it.
.:
.:Though I am by no means a legal expert, I think the analogous situations
.:might be using someone else's phone lines without their permission [...]

I restate the claim:  the airwaves are public.  Here, the phone lines 
are *not* *yours*, and the jacks automagically supplied.  If you don't 
take steps to lock down your "phone network", through encryption or other 
steps, how is someone to know whether you intended to allow access?

In other words, how do you supply explicit permission to a user when the 
medium is by definition *theirs* *too*?  This is a serious question!  I'm 
basically looking for the equivalent of the old FTP welcome message, for 
a wireless network.  The kind of thing where the AP's owner can say "Go 
away, you're trespassing" or "Welcome, play nice" or whatever.  Clearly, 
locking down a network says "You're trespassing".  Can anyone tell me 
how to explicitly say "Welcome"?  OTHER THAN A WARCHALK SIGN?


.:You wouldn't go for a ride on someone else's bike just because they 
.:didn't have it locked up, would you?

Not in this country, but for those of us who've experienced other 
cultures, and those of us *from* other cultures, the norms may be 
different.  There are some countries where it's *perfectly* *natural* to 
pick up the first available bike -- no one locks them up, and there's 
usually a pile of 'em in any given place.  It's a public resource, use 
what you need.

I for one would prefer to treat airwaves the same.  If you don't want 
trespassers, don't run an open network, or limit the network's range so 
you aren't intruding on others' use.

MMV  [My Mileage Varies].

--Sil

-- 
"If you put your supper dish to your ears you can hear the sounds
 of a restaurant."  --Snoopy    (Charles Schultz 02-12-2000 RIP)
    *&* Sil_Greene AT unc.edu   *&*   ICQ Silauren #36430811 *&*