We Want Media

This makes you think--perhaps at some point the Internet will be free like AM and FM radio. With wireless networks set up, and the ability to access them with the correct software, are people really going to keep paying. Granted, information is not as secure as when transferred through actually hardware. Given time, this will change I think. And I think that this would be a very big phenomena around college campuses if students did not receive free Internet access through the dorms. Look at what students have done when given the ability to get free music. I know my girlfriend and her roommate stopped paying for Internet because they were able to get if for free through detecting wireless networks being used closeby. Perhaps the days for actually paying to just access the Internet are numbered.

Invasion of privacy is a very sticky issue. For example, it's illegal for a photograpgher to shoot pictures of a person in that person's home without permission. However, shooting from outside their property is fair game. Most people would agree that the latter is a worse breach of privacy.

The same goes for wardriving. With wi-fi, more information can be leaked out to the wrong person with the right tools. Think about it, with unsecured wi-fi, someone can read every instant message, every e-mail, every e-bay bid. Also the wi-fi user pays hundreds of dollars a year for their service. Would anybody like it if someone took their cell-phone and used up their minutes when they were asleep? So with regards to wardriving, I do consider it, wrong and yes illegal. True, most wi-fi users should know their security options and use them, but most people don't know how to program their VCR clock let alone WPA protection.

I do agree that the tech companies released wi-fi too quickly, but I disagree that they did not do enough for security. When my house got broadband and wi-access back in August, the router came with the WPA protection built in. Furthermore it provided us with a step by step tutorial for setting up our network, that was so easy that even my computer illiterate parents knew what was going on.

With regards to the economics of the internet, I don't think that it will be a free means of communication any time soon. Unlike television and radio, the internet is an interactive means of communication. Making it interactive for millions of people requires a lot of money, and I doubt that the companies, and most internet users, want to use sponsership via ads. Eventually everything went to being paid -television with cable and now the growing popularity with sat. radio.

In the end, I think that the wi-fi and broadband companies are doing a good job, becuase their security functions are getting better both in technically and ease, without sacrificing the quality of the service. I feel with both security and the risk of wardriving increasing eventually all wi-fi will be protected, and mandatorally, and wardriving will be deemed illegal.

I wonder: how can it be illegal to pick up the wireless internet connection of a neighbor who has made no effort to make use of a network key? I suppose this question could be considered the same as asking "how can it be illegal to go into a person's house if the door is unlocked?" -- but context, I feel, can clarify this situation.

The day I discovered my laptop was picking up a neighbor's connection and I was freed from the chains of my local area connection (an unsightly blue chord I keep shoved under the desk), I rejoiced. I am not ashamed to admit that wireless mooching has contributed to my happiness. Do I feel wrong? Frankly, no. The connection surfaced one day entirely randomly and as a result of no action of mine. I do actively open my internet browser. (It is rather difficult to ignore the email alerts in the bottom right corner--not only do they include the name of the sender, but a fragment of the text so as to lure me into opening my mail account.) Yet that is pretty much what it boils down to: me and my legal activity online with the help of a neighbor. I haven't waltzed into their room and made myself a sandwich, or used their computer, for that matter. I could be naive in my computer illiteracy--shady things could go down, I suppose. But that is why networks can be secured, as Leslie suggests.

If my wireless internet supplier(s) should one day discover me propped on pillows and basking in the glory of their wireless connection, I won't be upset if they are annoyed that I didn't contribute to their wireless venture and decide to secure their network. I won't be as happy. The return of the blue chord. I shudder at the thought...

I'll offer them money?