Man arrested over wi-fi 'theft' in England

You've got to wonder what's going on in England... or if there's more to this story.

I wonder if the police could get away with this in Canada -- the Charter of Rights and Freedoms make some serious distinctions between what is and what is not a lawful search by police. Usually, there has to be some sort of reasonable belief that someone is committing a crime, not just a mere suspicion that a person might be up to no good. Has using a laptop in public become so suspicious that police can stop a citizen, interrogate them, search them, and then if they turn something up, arrest that person? I hope not!

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Man arrested over wi-fi 'theft'
A man has been arrested in connection with using a wi-fi broadband connection without permission.

From the BBC:
"He was initially detained by two Police Community Support Officers in Chiswick, west London, on Tuesday.

They became suspicious when they saw the 39-year-old using his laptop outside a house in Prebend Gardens.

When questioned he admitted to using someone else's unsecured wi-fi broadband connection. He has been bailed pending further inquiries.

The case is now being handled by the Metropolitan Police's computer crime unit.

Det Con Mark Roberts said: "This arrest should act as a warning to anyone who thinks it is acceptable to illegally use other people's broadband connections."

Dishonestly obtaining free internet access is an offence under the Communications Act 2003 and a potential breach of the Computer Misuse Act."



LINK to BBC

Linux In The Park 2007 is this Sunday

Linux In The Park 2007 is this Sunday
Start: 11:00
End: 20:00

David sez:

For the third year in a row, the geeks will gather in Bickford Park to eat drink and be nerdy. This year, just like last year, non-geeks and people who just like penguins, are invited. A computer swap meet is planned along the south edge of the park (tentatively 10am - 3pm) where we have the luxury of having a truck come by ,later in the day, to pick up the detritus. So bring all your computer junk and tell all your friends.

This is the gang that showed up last year, with the very first public inflation of Big Tux, and then we went inside and had the inaugural screening on our (then) new projector; RevolutionOS. ahhhh, good times.


linuxcaffe.ca

American Community Broadband Act would overturn bans on municipal broadband

Community Broadband Act would overturn bans on municipal broadband

By Eric Bangeman | Published: August 03, 2007 - 10:59AM CT

A bill introduced into the House of Representatives this week will attempt to spur broadband development in the US by overturning existing state bans on municipal broadband deployments. Titled the Community Broadband Act of 2007, the bill (PDF) is cosponsored by Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI).

Phishing plumbs new depths: Vietnamese fishermen sever fiber optic lines
Verizon quarterly earnings: FiOS is rockin'
FCC classifies Broadband over Power Line as information service
Bill would open up TV "white space" for wireless Internet
Currently, laws in Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Texas, and a handful of other states prevent cities and towns from installing and operating their own broadband networks. Most of those laws were enacted in the wake of heavy lobbying from the telecommunications industry, which doesn't want to see competition coming from local governments.


LINK

UPDATE: Network Outage Fixed!

UPDATE: as of 09:30 AM 05AUG2007, all services are back online. Again, apologies to all.
-the Wireless Nomad team

Network Outage Continues: Working on it!

UPDATE: as of 11:55 AM, Voicemail is back up now, too... and WiFi login should be back by this evening. Again, apologies to all.
-DF

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UPDATE: as of 10:33 AM, OK:email, website. NOT OK: WiFi login, system status page, voicemail.

A wire was plugged in backwards at the data centre... go figure. A least that part was easy to fix, once it was found.

Stay tuned for updates...
-DF

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Sorry, folks... the servers are still offline as part of the maintenance...

Plug into your routers to get internet, there's no WiFi login until the servers are back online.

Apologies,
-the WN team

Scheduled Network Outage Tonight

Scheduled network outage tonight from 11:30pm Friday 03AUG2007, until 02:00am Saturday 04AUG2007. Some necessary server maintenance with our web hosting provider, TCCP-- should be all OK by morning.

Co-op voicemail, email and website will be down, and it will not be possible to login to the WiFi during this time. DSL internet connections will not be affected, so plug into your router to get online if you need to.

Sorry for any trouble,

the Wireless Nomad Team

File-sharing is a "petty offense," say German prosecutors

File-sharing is a "petty offense," say German prosecutors

from ArsTechnica
By Eric Bangeman | Published: August 02, 2007 - 12:07PM CT

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has run into another roadblock in its legal battles against suspected file-sharers in Europe. German prosecutors have begun denying requests to force ISPs to identify the subscribers behind IP addresses, saying that the alleged file-sharing was a "petty offense."


Link

Silly lawsuits blocked by sensible goverment lawyers: what a refreshing copyright headline!