Steve Jobs' Vision of Widespread Free Public Wi-Fi Guest Networks Yet to Take Hold

[Rigby]

For the people freaking out over the security issues over sharing wifi with strangers - Comcast, for example, requires the other person to provide their Xfinity credentials.

The security issues cut both ways. How do you know that a Wifi hotspot with the SSID "xfinitywifi" is really run by Comcast? It could just as well be a bad guy fishing for Xfinity passwords. By using public hotspots, you also open yourself up to a variety of man-in-the-middle attacks.

 

[uwdude]

If they could get around the security issues somehow, so that I'm not liable for someone downloading kiddie porn or torrenting the latest movies on my guest account, then I would be a lot more open to it.

 

[2984839]

There are good reasons why it hasn't taken hold. It's a security nightmare and a legal disaster waiting to happen.

 

[PocketSand11]

If only we could limit these strangers to smartphone users and not some neighbors who don't pay for an ISP (edit: or worse, criminals), it could work. Funny that Steve Jobs mentioned this because my dad had suspicions that WPA2 was created by cell companies to lock down wifi.

 

[AppleDude]

Now Taking Applications

You are a good person. I wish I lived near you.

Well you're in luck! It so happens I'm still taking friend applications. A form is attached for your convenience

 

[PocketSand11]

There are good reasons why it hasn't taken hold. It's a security nightmare and a legal disaster waiting to happen.

I don't see what's insecure about this. The point of a guest network is that they're isolated from your LAN. I would only be worried about them getting my IP address banned from stuff or using it for illegal activity.

 

[malexandria]

Yep/Nope

I'm never in a place where there's WiFi that actually works, that alone FREE WiFi. And the cost of WiFi is ridiculous, $10 - $20 for a couple of hours of use in most places I travel to.

 

[DanTheAppleMan]

It'd be better if the various companies providing public WiFi hotspots (In UK O2, The Cloud etc.) would ditch the login system. Hotspots are quite plentiful here but it's more hassle than it's worth when there's a cellular signal. If it connected seamlessly it'd be perfect!

 

[NeroAZ]

No more

I used to keep my wifi open so anyone could use it, then this happened...

Dear Customer,

This message is to advise that Cox Communications has received a notice claiming that you are using your Cox High Speed Internet service to post or transmit material in violation of U.S. Copyright law. We have included a copy of the complaint, which identifies the party raising it and the material claimed to be infringing.

We ask that you review the complaint and, if it is valid, promptly remove or disable access to the infringing material. If you disagree with the claims in the notice, you should contact the sender, and not Cox, to resolve the matter.

As an Internet Service Provider, Cox is responsible, under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), to advise when we receive a notice asserting infringement by you. We are also required to take appropriate action if further claims are received that you do not resolve.
The material that you post or share online is your responsibility. Cox encourages responsible Internet use, but we do not monitor nor control the information you share. We have a duty, however, to take progressive steps when we received complaints of infringement.

If we continue to receive infringement claims such as this one, concerning your use of our service, we will suspend your account and disable your Internet connection until you confirm you have removed the infringing material.

To learn more about your responsibilities concerning copyrighted material, please refer to our help article at:
http://support.cox.com/sdccommon/as...sprt_cid=c2a30ae8-d706-4f6e-beb9-618ea54d1791

http://www.respectcopyrights.org/

Sincerely,

Cox Customer Security




--- Original Message ---

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1


November 25, 2009
Cox Communications Inc.
1400 Lake Hearn Drive
Atlanta, GA 30313

Sir or Madam:

I am contacting you on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) -- the trade association whose member music companies create, manufacture, and distribute approximately 85% of all legitimate music sold in the United States.

If you are an Internet Service Provider (ISP), you have received this letter because we have identified a user on your network reproducing or distributing an unauthorized copy of a copyrighted sound recording. This letter constitutes notice to you that this user may be liable for infringing activity occurring on your network.

If you are an Internet subscriber (user), you have received this letter because your Internet account was used to illegally copy and/or distribute copyrighted music over the Internet through a peer to peer application.

Distributing copyrighted works on a peer to peer system is a public activity visible by other users on that network, including the RIAA. An historic 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision affirmed that uploading and downloading copyrighted works without the copyright owner's permission is clearly illegal. You may be liable for the illegal activity occurring on your computer.

To avoid legal consequences, a user should immediately delete and disable access to the unauthorized music on your computer. Learn how at the "About Music Copyright Notices" section of http://www.riaa.com. That section also contains practical information about:

- How you were identified and why illegal downloading is not anonymous
- What next steps to take
- Where to get legal music online

We encourage Internet subscribers to visit the website http://www.musicunited.org, which contains valuable information about what is legal and what is not when it comes to copying music. It also links to some of the more popular online music services where fans can go to listen to and/or purchase their favorite songs.

We have attached below the details of the illegal file-sharing, including the time, date, and a sampling of the music shared. We assert that the information in this notice is accurate, based upon the data available to us. We have a good faith belief that this activity is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law. Under penalty of perjury, we submit that the RIAA is authorized to act on behalf of its member companies in matters involving the infringement of their sound recordings, including enforcing their copyrights and common law rights on the Internet. This letter does not constitute a waiver of any of our member's rights, and all such rights are expressly reserved.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation. If you have any questions, please visit the "About Music Copyright Notices" section of http://www.riaa.com.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Landis
Recording Industry Association of America
1025 F Street, NW, 10th Floor
Washington, D.C., 20004
Email: ispnoticefaq@riaa.com
Ph: 1-800-838-9775



List of infringing content
- ------------------------------

Jay-Z Umbrella

- -------------------------

INFRINGEMENT DETAIL

- --------------------

Infringing Work : Jay-Z Umbrella

Filename : 01 Umbrella (Remix) (Feat. Jay-Z & Chris Brown).mp3

First found (UTC): 2009-11-24T08:12:42.51Z

Last found (UTC): 2009-11-24T08:12:42.51Z

Filesize : 6119839 bytes

IP Address: 68.xxx.xx.xxx

IP Port: 48416

Network: Gnutella

Protocol: Gnutella




- ---Start ACNS XML
<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<Infringement xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<Case>
<ID>2223005617</ID>
<Status>Open</Status>
<Severity>Normal</Severity>
</Case>
<Complainant>
<Entity>Recording Industry Association of America Inc</Entity>
<Contact>RIAA</Contact>
<Address>1025 F Street NW 10th Floor Washington DC 20004</Address>
<Phone>1-800-838-9775</Phone>
<Email>antipiracy2@riaa.com</Email>
</Complainant>
<Service_Provider>
<Entity>Cox Communications</Entity>
<Contact />
<Address>Cox Communications Inc. 1400 Lake Hearn Drive Atlanta GA 30313 US </Address>
<Phone />
<Email>abuse@cox.net</Email>
</Service_Provider>
<Source>
<TimeStamp>2009-11-24T08:12:42.51Z</TimeStamp>
<IP_Address>68.xxx.xx.xxx</IP_Address>
<Port>48416</Port>
<Type>Gnutella</Type>
<UserName />
<Number_Files>1</Number_Files>
</Source>
<Content>
<Item>
<Title>Umbrella</Title>
<Artist>Jay-Z</Artist>
<FileName>01 Umbrella (Remix) (Feat. Jay-Z & Chris Brown).mp3</FileName>
<FileSize>6119839</FileSize>
<Type>Song</Type>
</Item>
</Content>
<History />
<Notes />
</Infringement>
- ---End ACNS XML
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (MingW32)

iEYEARECAAYFAksOR1kACgkQSq2vEtdJiDMSpQCguQyjPbcr6UZaHqbbWfx0wGrx
4skAnRmIFzuLm7YYg9tYpvqLKXoBIiR5
=usQw
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

 

[Dorje Sylas]

Its a lovely idea, very befitting of the hippy commune lifestyle, but it breaks down rather quickly as people who don't share those ideals join in and abuse the system.

Arguably this is what governments are for. A larger organizational body that we all belong to that can carry out, support, and maintain large scale projects, such as city wide wireless communications infrastructure. That has an institutional stability a private company many not have. If Joe's Fly-by-night-MAN-WiFi service goes bankrupt and Joe stops maintaining the system, poof goes the WiFi. Local governments are less likely to fold... well until you get Libertarians and Free-market Conservatives slashing municipal projects.

 

[kenroberts83]

Unfortunately there's a huge "free rider" problem to contend with here. I think the only way it would work is for a cable provider to wall off free "Guest" connections on all of its Wifi routers, and then only allow use to people with valid subscriptions. That way you're essentially taking your own home network, which you paid for, roaming. Reciprocal agreements could be put in place as well, allowing you access while out of town.

Another poster brings up a valid point about "man in the middle" attacks. Not sure how you would combat that. It would probably have to be some sort of automated encryption, perhaps hardware based. Security would certainly be a big concern. No one wants a kiddie-porn FBI raid on their home.

Edit: The best way to make this happen may be a partnership between a cellular network and a cable company, in a dense populated area like Manhattan.

 

[Col4bin]

Slow news day it seems?

 

[RickInHouston]

That's not the only thing he envisioned that has yet to take hold.

Wow. "I finally cracked it!". That was 2011. Guess he didn't.

 

[MacLC]

If only we could limit these strangers to smartphone users and not some neighbors who don't pay for an ISP, it could work. Otherwise, why pay for Internet access at home if your neighbor's wifi reaches into your house?

On that note, my neighbor was doing that to us. Our Windows Vista computer for granny didn't like passwords so we kept it password free. Finally something had to go and we chose Vista.

There are a lot of cheapskates in the world. The people who take up 2 parking spaces so nobody scratches their car, the people who go to a burger joint and take extra ketchup to use at home for another meal, and the people who get a $500 iPhone and pay $80 a month to use it then jailbreak it because they don't want to pay for a 99¢ app.

 

[2984839]

Its a lovely idea, very befitting of the hippy commune lifestyle, but it breaks down rather quickly as people who don't share those ideals join in and abuse the system.

Arguably this is what governments are for. A larger organizational body that we all belong to that can carry out, support, and maintain large scale projects, such as city wide wireless communications infrastructure. That has an institutional stability a private company many not have. If Joe's Fly-by-night-MAN-WiFi service goes bankrupt and Joe stops maintaining the system, poof goes the WiFi. Local governments are less likely to fold... well until you get Libertarians and Free-market Conservatives slashing municipal projects.

Given what we know about the NSA and FBI, do you really want to connect to a government wifi network?

 

[NightFox]

Slow news day it seems?

I think you've failed to grasp the whole concept of this site

 

[Martin29]

As the costs of access decrease and the technology to ensure privacy for individual users is improved, we will see this. Imagine the day where wifi networks are accessible to all from wherever.. Either that or else we'll all be using mobile networks with no further need for fixed internet access.. The result will be the same.

I have enough faith in humanity to believe that we'll learn to share resources once the costs of doing so have less impact on our own capacity to use the networks securely and without limits.

 

[ctdonath]

My cable modem data transfer quota is way too low to let random people use it up for free.

That's the problem: data caps.

Throttling guest usage to ensure no impact on primary use is easily solved. Security is solvable. Even content liability is manageable (worst case: record all data transfer & identify whether it was via main user or unknown guest).

But data caps wreck it. I want to know that my full data allotment is available to me, and don't want someone else lowering what's available to less than what I need and paid for.

 

[octothorpe8]

I've leeched off many a neighbor at times, so it only seems fair to open up guest access.

 

[PocketSand11]

people who get a $500 iPhone and pay $80 a month to use it then jailbreak it because they don't want to pay for a 99¢ app.

If that was a dig against me because of my signature, I don't pirate any apps. But I hate it when people do and when they steal wifi at home. Glad your granny no longer has to endure Vista too.

 

[SuperMatt]

My cable modem data transfer quota is way too low to let random people use it up for free. (Not to mention the security and liability issues.) No thanks.

What are the liability issues?

 

[GoCubsGo]

What are the liability issues?

Someone using the connection to download **** that isn't free to the general public and child porn. There are instances where people were accused of these acts because their network was open and these crimes occurred over their network.

 

[TallManNY]

Utility

We need the internet and the access points to be like a utility. There is probably a ton of profit that can be wrung out of our local cable companies and either returned to customers or put into upgraded service.

But until then and until I have easy access to better diagnostic tools, I won't open my Guest network to strangers. There are some weird folks who live in the house next to mine. Who knows what they would end up streaming and how much capacity they would use once they realized I had an open and free network. Not to mention that I pay for 30 Gb download speed and 5 GB up. So I've probably got the the fastest connection on the block.

 

[PocketSand11]

I used to keep my wifi open so anyone could use it, then this happened… [cut]

Wow, I've never seen anything like this. Thanks for posting. I'd be glad they didn't use it for something worse, like part of a botnet DDoSing PayPal.

 

[MacsRgr8]

IMHO, Widespread Free Wifi will be out-paced by affordable 4G data for everyone... everywhere!

That'll be heaven: unlimited 4G data world wide for < $50 per month
Wifi will only be needed for ultra high speed LAN, or peer to peer.