[nycwireless] the anti-free wifi movement

[John Geraci]

I'm curious to hear what others think about the front-page article in  
the NY Times on Saturday, which equated leaving your wifi open with  
helping child pornographers and credit card thieves (and maybe even  
terrorists).  It seemed like a bit of yellow journalism to me, and  
reflecting of how much the public has assimilated John Ashcroft's point  
of view that we should all submit willingly to government surveillance.  
 Still, I think the groups and people that support free wifi have to  
have a good rebuttal to the argument that was made, and not just  
dismiss it.

I came across a to-do list on this Sony site "lifehacker" just now  
(http://www.lifehacker.com/software/security/todo-secure-your-wireless- 
network-036577.php).  They recommend that their readers 1. set up WEP  
on their router  2. create an access list of what computers can access  
the Internet  3. turn off their SSID broadcast.  Granted, everyone  
should know how to lock down their router, but it seems that the press  
is going farther, making it your civic duty to close off your Internet  
access.  What is the free wifi movement's response?  Maybe it's just a  
good counter argument.  Maybe it's developing new tools that allow  
users to easily find some sort of middle ground between fully open wifi  
and fully closed wifi.  Not sure, but I think there should be some sort  
of response.

-John
 
 

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