Having been to Urbana (Lived & worked in Champaign for 2 or 3 years), I'd
note to the list that the "woodedness" of Urbana would be fairly
light-density growth.  Not really much "woodedness" to speak of, probably
roughly equivalent to San Jose, CA (maybe slightly worse, since what trees
are there are somewhat denser), and a quarter to an eigth that of Albany,
NY (where I live now).  Keeping that in mind, I'd say that if you can find
high rooftops to mount the antennas on, you shouldn't have too much
trouble, though I don't expect you'd get full speed with omnis at much
range.  Of course, with an omni high enough in that area, you should only
need a few of them to cover the whole town.
David Young said:
>
> In Urbana, Illinois, I am working with a community group that is trying
> to build a rooftop to rooftop network with 802.11b.  I am not
> discouraged by the woodedness of Urbana, because for most of our
> participants, it is no more than one to two blocks from one's home to
> another's. I think that the trees will actually be good for our
> network: by limiting propagation, they will help us to re-use the
> available bandwidth.
>
> We fully anticipate that operating at rooftop level, our link topology
> will change, even if it only changes seasonally, or during storms. For
> that reason, we have a notion of a "pod" in our network design. A pod
> is a set of hosts with omni antennas, each host being within radio
> range of at least one other host in its pod.  Pod hosts route and
> forward packets to one another.  In this way, each pod host can
> (hopefully) reach every other host in the pod (even if only by a
> multi-hop path through pod hosts) choosing new pod routes as link state
> changes. One or more hosts in a pod will link to the Internet and to
> other pods, usually through robust connections made with directional
> antennas or copper.
>
> We have produced an IP schema for our network, and the plans for a
> bootable NetBSD CD-ROM that will autoconfigure a stock PC with radio
> modem to work as a router/CPE on our network.  I am presently working
> on a bootable NetBSD CD-ROM that implements our plans. I have already
> had some modest success with the CD-ROM.
>
> Even if I am mistaken about the trees, and they are our undoing in the
> radio department, I feel certain that we will succeed in the software
> department.
>
> Dave
>
> On Fri, Jun 28, 2002 at 09:32:01AM -0700,
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>> Send wireless mailing list submissions to
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>>
>> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
>>      http://lists.bawug.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless
>> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
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>> You can reach the person managing the list at
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>>
>> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
>> than "Re: Contents of wireless digest..."
>>
>>
>> Today's Topics:
>>
>>    1. question about WiFi in Bloomfield County, Colorado (Jim Kissel)
>>    2. Theoretical LOS vs the reality of trees? (Eric Warnke)
>>    3. Re: question about WiFi in Bloomfield County, Colorado
>>    (DonChicago) 4. RE: Theoretical LOS vs the reality of trees?
>>    (Enrique LaRoche) 5. RE: RE: Time Warner Nasty-gram (Jeff M)
>>    6. Re: Theoretical LOS vs the reality of trees? (DonChicago)
>>    7. RE: Theoretical LOS vs the reality of trees? (B.C. Krishna) 8.
>>    Re: Theoretical LOS vs the reality of trees? (John Foust)
>>    9. RE: RE: Time Warner Nasty-gram (Matthew Kaufman)
>>   10. RE: Time Warner Nasty-gram (Matthew Kaufman)
>>   11. Time Warner Nasty - gram (Ken Leisten)
>>   12. RE: Time Warner Nasty-gram (Jim Aspinwall)
>>
>> --__--__--
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 12:42:25 +0100
>> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> From: Jim Kissel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> Subject: [BAWUG] question about WiFi in Bloomfield County, Colorado
>>
>>
>> In a recent article "How DIY wi-fi makes 3G networks dinosaurs"
>> http://www.observer.co.uk/business/story/0,6903,668735,00.html
>> Greg Anderson, IT director for Broomfield County, Colorado said:
>> ".....forsaking 3G for a wi-fi system to cover its 36 square miles.
>> Anderson says the return on the $60,000 price of the new system  will
>> be 'astronomical': mobile phones cost far more. "
>>
>> and
>>
>> "3G is slower than what I have now," he told Computerworld.
>> "Our system is much better and has zero operating cost."
>>
>> I have had a look around the net, and have found a couple
>> of references to this, but I have a problem with the coverage.
>>
>> 36 square miles for $60,000! and how do you cover 36 sq miles
>> with 802.11a or b when everything I read on the net suggests
>> that the broadcast radius is less than 100 meters
>> (say 330 feet on a good day)?
>>
>> Any feedback on how that major "miracle" can be accomplished
>> would be greatly appreciated.
>>
>> thanks in advance
>>
>>
>>
>> --__--__--
>>
>> Message: 2
>> Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 10:10:54 -0400 (EDT)
>> From: Eric Warnke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> Subject: [BAWUG] Theoretical LOS vs the reality of trees?
>>
>>
>> Hell all,
>>
>> I have been researching setting up a wireless project in my home town
>> of Albany, NY.  Topographical maps show that my friends and I should
>> have no problem establishing LOS, but in reality nobody can actually
>> see anthing because of the trees in the area.  We would all be
>> shooting from at least two stories and there are no buildings in our
>> way ( as far as we can tell ).  Links will be shooting 1-3 miles.
>> Using the radio mobile tool I have been able to show that even with
>> urban factors(?) we should be able to maintain a connection of 20db
>> over a noise floor of -87db ( 10mV ) using grid parabolic 24dB dishes.
>>
>> So how bad is it?  Without true LOS are we going to be doing this and
>> get no return?
>>
>> Their is another possibility and that would require us to shoot to a
>> southern mntn ridge that is 9 miles off and I'm not sure that we could
>> serve a whole community off a single point like that.
>>
>> Anyways, any practical info on p2p 2.4ghz shooting through good NE
>> foliage would be very helpfull.
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>> Eric
>>
>>
>> --__--__--
>>
>> Message: 3
>> From: "DonChicago" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Jim Kissel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> Subject: Re: [BAWUG] question about WiFi in Bloomfield County,
>> Colorado Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 09:58:27 -0500
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Jim Kissel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> Sent: Friday, June 28, 2002 6:42 AM
>> Subject: [BAWUG] question about WiFi in Bloomfield County, Colorado
>>
>>
>> >
>> > In a recent article "How DIY wi-fi makes 3G networks dinosaurs"
>> > http://www.observer.co.uk/business/story/0,6903,668735,00.html Greg
>> > Anderson, IT director for Broomfield County, Colorado said:
>> > ".....forsaking 3G for a wi-fi system to cover its 36 square miles.
>> > Anderson says the return on the $60,000 price of the new system will
>> > be 'astronomical': mobile phones cost far more. "
>> >
>> > and
>> >
>> > "3G is slower than what I have now," he told Computerworld.
>> > "Our system is much better and has zero operating cost."
>> >
>> > I have had a look around the net, and have found a couple
>> > of references to this, but I have a problem with the coverage.
>> >
>> > 36 square miles for $60,000! and how do you cover 36 sq miles
>> > with 802.11a or b when everything I read on the net suggests
>> > that the broadcast radius is less than 100 meters
>> > (say 330 feet on a good day)?
>> >
>> > Any feedback on how that major "miracle" can be accomplished
>> > would be greatly appreciated.
>> >
>> > thanks in advance
>> >
>> Assuming they set up an outdoor WiFi system with roughly 3.4 mile
>> omnidirectional range, they'd have just over 36 square miles of
>> coverage. If you examine the outdoor range values published by Cisco
>> and others for their outdoor antennas, this is well within the
>> expected values. Actually, with good line of sight and sector antennas
>> operating at the FCC limits for transmit power, a 360 square mile cell
>> would be quite possible. Distant clients would probably need high-gain
>> antennas, but the link-quality calculations work.
>> I routinely use a licensed 25.2 mile LMDS radio link for internet
>> access. Although the modulation is different, the LMDS radio link
>> operates at 2.1/2.5 Ghz, with WiFi-comparable power levels and an
>> antenna very similar to the high-gain parabolic grids used for WiFi
>> clients and bridge links. That LMDS cell effectively covers over 3600
>> square miles.
>>
>>
>> --__--__--
>>
>> Message: 4
>> Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> From: "Enrique LaRoche" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: "Eric Warnke" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> Subject: RE: [BAWUG] Theoretical LOS vs the reality of trees?
>> Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 07:56:59 -0700
>>
>> LOS is LOs and trees will dramatically reduce your range.
>> Others here may respond with the Figures but I have just tried it and
>> Trees seem to be made of the same stuff walls are.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Eric Warnke
>> Sent: Friday, June 28, 2002 7:11 AM
>> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> Subject: [BAWUG] Theoretical LOS vs the reality of trees?
>>
>>
>>
>> Hell all,
>>
>> I have been researching setting up a wireless project in my home town
>> of Albany, NY.  Topographical maps show that my friends and I should
>> have no problem establishing LOS, but in reality nobody can actually
>> see anthing because of the trees in the area.  We would all be
>> shooting from at least two stories and there are no buildings in our
>> way ( as far as we can tell ).  Links will be shooting 1-3 miles.
>> Using the radio mobile tool I have been able to show that even with
>> urban factors(?) we should be able to maintain a connection of 20db
>> over a noise floor of -87db ( 10mV ) using grid parabolic 24dB dishes.
>>
>> So how bad is it?  Without true LOS are we going to be doing this and
>> get no return?
>>
>> Their is another possibility and that would require us to shoot to a
>> southern mntn ridge that is 9 miles off and I'm not sure that we could
>> serve a whole community off a single point like that.
>>
>> Anyways, any practical info on p2p 2.4ghz shooting through good NE
>> foliage would be very helpfull.
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>> Eric
>>
>> --
>> general wireless list, a bawug thing <http://www.bawug.org/>
>> [un]subscribe: http://lists.bawug.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless
>>
>>
>> --__--__--
>>
>> Message: 5
>> Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 11:13:23 -0400 (EDT)
>> Subject: RE: [BAWUG] RE: Time Warner Nasty-gram
>> From: "Jeff M" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>
>> I'd love to say lets agree to disagree, but this is a problem that has
>> far-reaching legal ramifications.  Since it doesn't appear to me that
>> either of us are lawyers, I'd suggest we find a lawyer who can answer
>> the following question:
>> Posit:
>> 1) Person X has an agreement with company C to receive access to a
>> given amount of bandwidth.2) The agreement between X & C prohibits X
>> from redistributing X's bandwidth. 3) X installs a wireless access
>> point (WAP) for accessing the bandwidth. 4) X makes the assumption
>> that the WAP is only accessible to X
>> 5) The WAP is actually available to anyone who can transmit & receive
>> signals to the WAP.6) Person Y happens upon the signal on Y's own
>> property and uses the WAP to access the internet.Question:
>> 1) Is X in violation of X's agreement?
>> 2) Has Y committed a violation of some sort, and if so, precisely
>> what?
>>
>> NOTE:
>>
>> These are two separate questions.  It may be possible that Y is
>> violating a law by accessing X's WAP and Y's network without
>> authorisation, but X is in violation of X's agreement by negligently
>> allowing Y access at the same time.  (thus, both X and Y are at fault)
>> I also have some comments in the e-mail below:
>>
>>
>> Enrique LaRoche said:
>> >
>> >
>> >> Here we disagree
>> >>> If someone driving by were to stop and login to the internet this
>> >>> would not seem to be an intentional redistribution.
>> >>
>> >> If your access point were unprotected, this would be
>> >> redistribution.
>> >>
>> >>> The First time you advertised your hotspot , then it would seem to
>> >>> violate the agreement.
>> >>
>> >> This is also redistribution.
>> >>
>> > To Violate an agreement one generally must have some intent to
>> > Violate.
>>
>> Really?  If I violate a law without intent and find out about my
>> violation later when I'm charged with violation, I still expect to be
>> found guilty if I actually did what I'm charged with.  Why are
>> agreements different?
>>
>> > If I install my wireless connection to meet my needs and I do not
>> > need security because I am simply not intertested in security then
>> > the burden is not on me to protect the interests of AT+T
>>
>> No, but you do have the burden of upholding your agreement with them.
>>
>> >
>> > If a particular level of security is required as a condition for
>> > using wireless routers then this should be defined in the contract.
>>
>> It was.  The contract said don't let other people on the network.
>>
>> >
>> >>> Looks like the only way these connections will mesh is via a truly
>> >>> underground and free approach.
>> >>
>> >> You can mesh the connections, but you cannot grant the mesh access
>> >> to the internet through your Time Warner account.
>> >>> For Example I have been in dense SanFrancisco neighborhoods and
>> >>> logged into several waps with no commercial intent.
>> >>> Were any of thoose users in violation?
>> >>> I doubt it.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Yes, they were.
>> >
>> > Again I disagree.
>> > unauthorized use of a connection does not depend upon your attempt
>> > to secure the connection .
>> >
>> > If you find a stack of money in the bank lobby it is not yours just
>> > because it was not locked in the vault.
>>
>> The person taking the money is guilty of theft.  The person leaving
>> the money in the lobby may be held partly responsible for his
>> negligent behavior.
>> >
>> > Authorized use of a connection requires authorization and any un
>> > authorized use would not constitute redistribution.
>>
>> Authorised use of a connection requires authorisation and is
>> redistribution, unauthorised use of a connection *MAY* constitute
>> redistribution, and would certainly be arguable in court.
>> The person making unauthorised use of an unprotected connection may
>> plead ignorance as well, by claiming that they thought they were using
>> an open public network.
>>
>> >
>> > Least thats the world I am used to living in.
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > general wireless list, a bawug thing <http://www.bawug.org/>
>> > [un]subscribe: http://lists.bawug.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --__--__--
>>
>> Message: 6
>> From: "DonChicago" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: "Eric Warnke" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> Subject: Re: [BAWUG] Theoretical LOS vs the reality of trees?
>> Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 10:14:18 -0500
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Eric Warnke" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> Sent: Friday, June 28, 2002 9:10 AM
>> Subject: [BAWUG] Theoretical LOS vs the reality of trees?
>>
>>
>> >
>> > Hell all,
>> >
>> > I have been researching setting up a wireless project in my home
>> > town of Albany, NY.  Topographical maps show that my friends and I
>> > should have no problem establishing LOS, but in reality nobody can
>> > actually see anthing because of the trees in the area.  We would all
>> > be shooting from at least two stories and there are no buildings in
>> > our way ( as far as we can tell ).  Links will be shooting 1-3
>> > miles.  Using the radio mobile tool I have been able to show that
>> > even with urban factors(?) we should be able to maintain a
>> > connection of 20db over a noise floor of -87db ( 10mV ) using grid
>> > parabolic 24dB dishes.
>> >
>> > So how bad is it?  Without true LOS are we going to be doing this
>> > and get no return?
>> >
>> > Their is another possibility and that would require us to shoot to a
>> > southern mntn ridge that is 9 miles off and I'm not sure that we
>> > could serve a whole community off a single point like that.
>> >
>> > Anyways, any practical info on p2p 2.4ghz shooting through good NE
>> > foliage would be very helpfull.
>> >
>> > Thanks in advance,
>> > Eric
>> I tested an 1800 foot radio link through typical Midwest suburban
>> summer foliage between a 100 milliwatt Cisco Air-BR342 Wireless Bridge
>> in AP mode using a 10 dBi Cisco omni antenna @ 35 feet above ground
>> level and a notebook running a Cisco Air-LMC352 (PC Card @ 50
>> milliwatts) into a 19 dBi antenna, also at 35 feet AGL. The SNR
>> averaged no better than 10 dB, a marginal link. The same pair of
>> radios works fine at 5.6 miles range with Line Of Sight.
>>
>>
>> --__--__--
>>
>> Message: 7
>> Subject: RE: [BAWUG] Theoretical LOS vs the reality of trees?
>> Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 11:17:57 -0400
>> From: "B.C. Krishna" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "Eric Warnke" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>>
>> It would be great if somebody would provide the definitive treatise on
>> this. Really, isn't the issue the moisture in the trees and leaves
>> (creating a dielectric barrier) that's the problem?
>>
>> I don't have sophisticated tools, but measured with NetStumbler, I
>> don't see any signal degradation across the boundary of my house
>> siding (cedar shingles). Wood, but dry.
>>
>> So, leaves do seem to dramatically reduce range, as do windows with
>> leaded glass.
>>
>> cheers, bc
>>
>>
>> >-----Original Message-----
>> >From: Enrique LaRoche [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>> >Sent: Friday, June 28, 2002 10:57 AM
>> >To: Eric Warnke
>> >Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> >Subject: RE: [BAWUG] Theoretical LOS vs the reality of trees?
>> >
>> >
>> >LOS is LOs and trees will dramatically reduce your range.
>> >Others here may respond with the Figures but I have just tried  it
>> >and Trees
>> >seem to be made of the same stuff walls are.
>> >
>> >-----Original Message-----
>> >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> >[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Eric Warnke Sent:
>> >Friday, June 28, 2002 7:11 AM
>> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> >Subject: [BAWUG] Theoretical LOS vs the reality of trees?
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >Hell all,
>> >
>> >I have been researching setting up a wireless project in my
>> >home town of
>> >Albany, NY.  Topographical maps show that my friends and I
>> >should have no
>> >problem establishing LOS, but in reality nobody can actually
>> >see anthing
>> >because of the trees in the area.  We would all be shooting
>> >from at least
>> >two stories and there are no buildings in our way ( as far as
>> >we can tell
>> >).  Links will be shooting 1-3 miles.  Using the radio mobile
>> >tool I have
>> >been able to show that even with urban factors(?) we should be able
>> >to maintain a connection of 20db over a noise floor of -87db (
>> >10mV ) using
>> >grid parabolic 24dB dishes.
>> >
>> >So how bad is it?  Without true LOS are we going to be doing
>> >this and get
>> >no return?
>> >
>> >Their is another possibility and that would require us to shoot to a
>> >southern mntn ridge that is 9 miles off and I'm not sure that we
>> >could serve a whole community off a single point like that.
>> >
>> >Anyways, any practical info on p2p 2.4ghz shooting through
>> >good NE foliage
>> >would be very helpfull.
>> >
>> >Thanks in advance,
>> >Eric
>> >
>> >--
>> >general wireless list, a bawug thing <http://www.bawug.org/>
>> >[un]subscribe: http://lists.bawug.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless
>> >
>> >--
>> >general wireless list, a bawug thing <http://www.bawug.org/>
>> >[un]subscribe: http://lists.bawug.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless
>> >
>>
>> --__--__--
>>
>> Message: 8
>> Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 10:19:32 -0500
>> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> From: John Foust <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> Subject: Re: [BAWUG] Theoretical LOS vs the reality of trees?
>>
>> At 10:10 AM 6/28/2002 -0400, Eric Warnke wrote:
>> >Anyways, any practical info on p2p 2.4ghz shooting through good NE
>> >foliage would be very helpfull.
>>
>> 2.4 Ghz doesn't like water.  Leaves and wood have water, and
>> rain-wettened leaves are even more water especially at moments
>> when there's rain in the air.  Although a quick survey might
>> reveal a signal at a certain level, what you really want is a
>> survey conducted over time with the equipment you plan to use.
>>
>> In other words, even if you think you can punch through some trees,
>> over time your real installation may show you that the signal
>> degrades.  Sometimes the degradation is tough to assess: it could be
>> water in a  cable coupling, wind shaking a loose mount, ice on the
>> Yagi cover cap, etc.
>>
>> You should also web-research "Fresnel effect" to determine
>> the effect of obstacles in any seemingly clear path.
>>
>> - John
>>
>>
>> --__--__--
>>
>> Message: 9
>> From: "Matthew Kaufman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: "'Jeff M'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> Subject: RE: [BAWUG] RE: Time Warner Nasty-gram
>> Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 08:37:07 -0700
>>
>> My take?
>>
>> 1) Maybe. It really depends on the text of the agreement. They
>> certainly have a good defense.
>> 2) Yes, absolutely. Violating state and federal criminal law. Their
>> defense is extremely poor.
>>
>> Odds are, neither one will get caught unless they're extremely
>> un-subtle.
>>
>> > 1) Is X in violation of X's agreement?
>> > 2) Has Y committed a violation of some sort, and if so,
>> > precisely what?
>> >
>> > NOTE:
>> >
>> > These are two separate questions.  It may be possible that Y
>> > is violating a law by accessing X's WAP and Y's network
>> > without authorisation, but X is in violation of X's agreement  by
>> > negligently allowing Y access at the same time.  (thus,
>> > both X and Y are at fault) I also have some comments in the
>> > e-mail below:
>> >
>>
>>
>> --__--__--
>>
>> Message: 10
>> From: "Matthew Kaufman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
>> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [BAWUG] Time Warner Nasty-gram
>> Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 08:38:07 -0700
>>
>>
>> > Perhaps it's like cell phone calls; I can listen but I can't
>> > disclose what I heard.
>>
>> No longer legal as of 1986, thanks to the same ECPA that protects the
>> privacy of your email.
>>
>> Matthew
>>
>>
>> --__--__--
>>
>> Message: 11
>> Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 09:09:12 -0700
>> From: Ken Leisten<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> Subject: [BAWUG] Time Warner Nasty - gram
>>
>> Cable Firms Faulted For Restrictions On Internet Service
>> (Washingtonpost.com, June 28, 2002)
>> Some cable providers have imposed "troubling" restrictions on how
>> their high-speed Internet networks can be used by consumers and
>> businesses, a coalition of high-tech companies has told federal
>> regulators.
>> Full text article is at
>> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58542-2002Jun27.html
>>
>>
>> --__--__--
>>
>> Message: 12
>> Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 09:31:17 -0700
>> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> From: Jim Aspinwall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> Subject: RE: [BAWUG] Time Warner Nasty-gram
>>
>>
>> Actually, according to the FBI and a local attorney that is NOT true -
>> if  you leave the door open to your house anyone can walk in and
>> browse around  (local laws may vary).
>>
>> 'Trespass' is NOT legally defined in terms of the Internet and
>> personal  computers. Not known to be tried, tested and precedent set
>> in courts.
>>
>> "Invasion of privacy" is not universally defined legally - in some
>> cases it  may be overt "peeping tom" and in others peering over the
>> neighbors fence  or walking into their house is NOT.
>>
>> "The Internet" is not known to be or defined as private by any means -
>> as a  whole or part. The existence of a host on the Internet, by
>> nature and lack  of legal definition, comprises a publicly available
>> resource on the  Internet. There is NO differentiation (yet) of
>> whether or not you use FTP,  HTTP, NetBIOS, port 52387, Telnet, etc.
>> to define and delimit private v.  public systems and resources on the
>> Internet.  The day the Feds start  defining 'legal' based on port and
>> protocol is the day we may as well give  up on the 'Net as-is.  Hence
>> - they ONLY way to define anything illegal on  the Internet so far is
>> tangible damages.
>>
>> Common sense says that most people do not just walk around other's
>> back  yards and into their bedrooms - but they are essentially free to
>> do  so.  You may and should ask them to leave, or ask the police to
>> intervene -  but unfortunately there isn't always an implicit
>> 'trespass' violation until  the 'guest' refuses to leave.
>>
>> True it is a horribly frightening annoyance - but, like having private
>> info  (check privacy rules) *available* does not constitute mis-use or
>> damages  UNTIL it is mis-used or causes damage.
>>
>> If I have your SS# and bank account #, mother's maiden name and
>> password -  so WHAT?  If I do nothing with it, what harm have I done
>> but scare the heck  out of you and piss you off ????  An emotional
>> reaction of course - we've  been 'violated' - but until I spend a dime
>> of your $$ I have caused no  actual tangible damage.  Looking at your
>> open wallet in plain sight on the  seat of your car does not
>> constitute illegal search, trespass or anything  else illegal.
>>
>> Conversely, and of course the way we FEEL about things - walk into my
>> house  uninvited or I catch you on my network you may begin to imagine
>> hearing  cold steel moving against cold steel and visualize a long
>> cold black hollow  cylinder pointed at your forehead or delicate
>> parts...or begin to feel like  a fastball headed towards Barry Bond's
>> bat and then winging your way toward  SF bay -  which is what keeps
>> most of us from doing such things...
>>
>> What no one has said, though it appears from some of the reactions
>> that I  or someone did say it - is that you are wrong for not taking
>> preventive  measures, or that you are inviting or taking liability for
>> others'  wrong-doing - NO WAY - questionable reasoning for not taking
>> such steps  perhaps, but not wrong.
>>
>> Except, unless the moron who walks into your house uninvited hurts
>> himself,  you are not liable for leaving that attractive nuisance as
>> an open door or  open LAN available to the public (as I would be for
>> not building a locked  six foot fence to keep the neighbor kids from
>> drowning in my pool, whether  or not the kid entered the yard or drown
>> in the pool...) any more than the  questionable nature of running an
>> open SMTP relay or unprotected IIS server  (heck, any IIS server).
>>
>> Points are and have been clearly:
>>
>> - legal or not the ISP can clip your wings anyway they want
>> - correcting that is up to how much time and effort and legal backing
>> you  can afford to deal with it
>> - tangible damages are clearly on the books, emotional damage is
>> harder to  prove and outside the context of the discussion
>>   - we do what is smart and reasonable to protect our homes and
>>   networks
>> because it makes sense to invoke some measures of reasonable
>> self-protection and emotional comfort - out of fear and perhaps ethics
>> and  common sense, not out of non-existent legal mumbo-jumbo
>>
>> "Wrong.
>> By using any tool to browse someone else's hard drive without their
>> explicit permission, you have committed trespass and breached their
>> privacy, in exactly the same way that walking into a person's unlocked
>> house and rooting through their dresser drawers without an invitation
>> constitutes trespass and invasion of privacy, regardless of whether
>> you take or damage anything or not."
>>
>>
>>
>> --__--__--
>>
>> --
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>>
>> End of wireless Digest
>
> --
> David Young             OJC Technologies
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]     Engineering from the Right Brain
>                        Urbana, IL * (217) 278-3933
> --
> general wireless list, a bawug thing <http://www.bawug.org/>
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