begin quoting Wade Curry as of Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 10:16:43PM -0700: > Gregory K. Ruiz-Ade([EMAIL PROTECTED])@Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 11:04:59AM -0700: [snip] > > A more accurate analogy, I think, would be if you were listening > > to your neighbor's music because both your windows were open, > > were you stealing that music? > > > > Granted, the RIAA would probably say yes... > > Issues like this /used/ to be considered part of "netiquette".
Um, they were? > When you get on someone's network, you aren't just listening to > the music with them, or reading by the same light. The only way to > make these analogies even close is to imagine that by using their > light, the light fades. Or, if you listen to their music, > the volume is decreased. I like the water-spigot analogy -- but with a hosepipe. If you put your hose on my lawn, who is engaged in a breach of etiquette? If I choose to /use/ that hose, that's water that you're paying for, not me... but you're the one putting your hose on my property. This works well with the tramp as well... if he snags your hose to use it from the sidewalk, sure, that's basically theft. If your neigbhor is not controlling their wifi sufficiently to prevent it from getting into your living room (and possibly interfering with your equipment and/or bandwidth), then your taking advantage of it is a simple case of tit-for-tat. You shouldn't be the one who has to build a faraday cage to keep your neighbor's RF _out_. > If my neighbor sees that 1) I own one car 2) my driveway is more > than big enough for 2 cars, and 3) besides I'm not at home right > now, he's still being a jerk if he decides to park there. I might > be coming home in a U-Haul with some large furniture to > load/unload, or I might be on vacation... but when I need it, I > /don't/ want to find someone getting in my way. And, I do get > grouchy when I have to ask someone to let me use what is obviously > mine, not theirs. Yup. But borrowing your driveway for a minute or three (to swap cars, say) isn't a big deal (so long as you don't have to clean up a big oil slick afterwards). For an hour or three, not so nice; for a day or three, well, better ask permission first. > Maybe it isn't obvious how that person's streaming video is being > affected. Maybe it isn't obvious that the person is trying to get > some work done quickly over a VPN. It /is/ obvious the bandwidth > was paid for and belongs to someone else. Not mine. That's all a > civilized human needs to know. Wifi bandwidth is limited as well. My wifi may interfere with your TV, or with your (underpowered in comparision) access point. My emissions may cause you to run around in a tinfoil hat for protection... > Should it be illegal? I don't think so. Is it courteous? Not > remotely (really awful pun intended). You can also turn it off except when you want to use it. That would make it less usable for your neighbors, and they'd consequently be less inclined to steal your bandwidth. > Don't squat on my wifi, and I won't have my yard sale on /your/ > front lawn. (if you have a problem with that, why didn't you put up > a large fence with a locked gate?) Paint your house with copper paint, and stop using your RF to stomp all over mine. :) > This has been a public service announcement. :-P And we thank you for it. -- Another scheme it would seem Is needed to be deeded. Stewart Stremler -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
