[OpenWireless Tech] A small question about tracking

Todd Todd at chiwifi.net
Tue Nov 6 04:08:39 PST 2012


Read the thread named "[OpenWireless Tech] Hello World"

On 11/06/2012 06:07 AM, Natanael wrote:
>
> Besides the point. How do we otherwise create a global standardized
> system?
>
> Den 6 nov 2012 13:02 skrev "Todd" <Todd at chiwifi.net
> <mailto:Todd at chiwifi.net>>:
>
>     Typical end user does not care if the service they are using is
>     not open.
>
>
>     On 11/06/2012 06:00 AM, Natanael wrote:
>>
>>     Where are the commercial offerings that provide open source
>>     standardized platforms for automatic detection of and connection
>>     to free WiFi that also provides freedom of liability for the
>>     router owner?
>>
>>     IIRC, Fon also uses VPN:s/tunnels for the secondary users that
>>     connect. But the platform ain't open, right?
>>
>>     Den 6 nov 2012 12:55 skrev "Todd" <Todd at chiwifi.net
>>     <mailto:Todd at chiwifi.net>>:
>>
>>         How is what you mentioned any different then already existing
>>         projects,
>>         like fon, which btw also does not use VPNs.
>>
>>         So far you have suggested that this become massive enough to
>>         include
>>         hardware manufactures and for it to be world-wide but at the
>>         same time
>>         said these systems would not scale to city sizes.
>>
>>         Most importantly however is the fact that it makes no effort
>>         what so
>>         ever to change any portion of the existing internet, only the
>>         way in
>>         which people connect to it. It also does not it in any way impact
>>         internet freedoms, instead it just shuffles around
>>         responsibility.
>>
>>         So I ask again, why should anyone give a crap if all you are
>>         doing is
>>         trying to copy already existing and mature commercial
>>         offerings, and
>>         making it more complicated and slow with throwing on some VPN
>>         crap ?
>>
>>
>>         On 11/06/2012 05:46 AM, "Andy Green (林安廸)" wrote:
>>         > On 11/06/12 19:37, the mail apparently from Todd included:
>>         >
>>         >> Why should anyone feel responsible for giving anyone else
>>         internet, when
>>         >> they are paying for out of their own pocket for it?
>>         >> What do they get in return ?
>>         >
>>         > Well, the VPN thing is to try to reduce the
>>         "responsibility" to zero
>>         > and eliminate that downside.
>>         >
>>         > They can throttle the leechers how they like as well, and /
>>         or QoS
>>         > them down so the real user never even notices them.
>>         >
>>         > I guess it boils down to if they contribute, and there's a
>>         useful
>>         > critical mass, then they are free to "be the leecher" when
>>         they need
>>         > it.  For example, if you visit other countries, roaming
>>         rates make it
>>         > insane to casually use Internet on your SIM.
>>         >
>>         > This way, you might get a reasonable facsimile of
>>         continuous internet
>>         > connection for receiving email etc as you walk around a
>>         city.  Or if
>>         > you are stuck in a hotel with expensive Internet, if there
>>         are other
>>         > APs nearby you will be able to get by.
>>         >
>>         > Actually those are quite nice benefits that could appear
>>         worldwide if
>>         > this scheme took off.  For that, it would be ideal if AP
>>         manufacturers
>>         > included the support and enabled it by default alongside
>>         the regular
>>         > WPA network so the AP owner's own traffic remains safe.
>>         >
>>         > And again the other part is that APs should be ready to be
>>         the VPN
>>         > server for the owner when he is roaming.
>>         >
>>         > -Andy
>>         >
>>         >>> On 11/06/12 19:29, the mail apparently from Todd included:
>>         >>>> On 11/06/2012 05:20 AM, "Andy Green (林安廸)" wrote:
>>         >>>>> On 11/06/12 18:53, the mail apparently from Christian
>>         Huldt included:
>>         >>>>>>
>>         >>>>>> 2012-11-06 kl. 11:10 skrev Todd:
>>         >>>>>>
>>         >>>>>>> One thing note here is, most of the responses have
>>         been solely
>>         >>>>>>> about
>>         >>>>>>> "protecting the router owner" via throwing on varying
>>         levels of
>>         >>>>>>> VPN. As
>>         >>>>>>> far as I can tell,  the average member of this list
>>         is more worried
>>         >>>>>>> about their continued ability to pirate then
>>         providing ubiquitous
>>         >>>>>>> wifi
>>         >>>>>>> which is very disheartening.
>>         >>>>>>
>>         >>>>>> I beg to disagree, IMHO this is about being able to
>>         convince your
>>         >>>>>> neighbor that
>>         >>>>>> he/she can also share wifi without any immediate risks
>>         - which there
>>         >>>>>> are, at least in Germany.
>>         >>>>>
>>         >>>>> Exactly, same in UK.
>>         >>>>>
>>         >>>>> Since the VPN story includes trying to get the client's
>>         home AP as
>>         >>>>> the
>>         >>>>> server, going out on the internet with the IP in the
>>         client's name,
>>         >>>>> this has nothing whatsoever to do with 'piracy'.
>>         >>>>>
>>         >>>>> You can see for yourself that the very few open
>>         personal APs left
>>         >>>>> seem
>>         >>>>> to mainly be so by accident (SSID of "Netgear", etc),
>>         at least
>>         >>>>> where I
>>         >>>>> live and travel your average router owner "knows" that
>>         unencrypted is
>>         >>>>> dangerous even if he couldn't explain it in terms of
>>         his traffic
>>         >>>>> being
>>         >>>>> sniffable, he could tell you it's dangerous due to
>>         possibility of
>>         >>>>> other people exploiting it to his detriment.
>>         >>>>>
>>         >>>>> To get people to make the other decision, to offer
>>         anonymous
>>         >>>>> access on
>>         >>>>> their IP again, there has to be a story that
>>         definitively counters
>>         >>>>> this perception, a reason why something changed and it
>>         is now safe to
>>         >>>>> do so, and we might see (VPN-only) open APs become
>>         normal again.
>>         >>>>>
>>         >>>>> The only story I know that would convince me is
>>         VPN-only, since it
>>         >>>>> directly counters the "but the bad guy might use my IP"
>>         concern.
>>         >>>>>
>>         >>>>> -Andy
>>         >>>>>
>>         >>>>
>>         >>>>
>>         >>>> The "bad guy might use my IP" argument is completely
>>         irrelevant if the
>>         >>>> IPs are not being assigned by the large ISP (IE..
>>         comcast, att,
>>         >>>> verizon,
>>         >>>> etc..)
>>         >>>
>>         >>> I am not sure what scenario you are imagining, but the
>>         guys on the
>>         >>> ground with compatible APs all around are exactly
>>         customers of these
>>         >>> kind of ISPs.  If you look at your scan list you will
>>         likely see loads
>>         >>> of WPA-protected private APs right now.
>>         >>>
>>         >>> If most of those normal people opened their APs for
>>         VPN-only, because
>>         >>> it was built-in to their APs, you could pretty much bank
>>         on getting
>>         >>> service whereever there was habitation, without any special
>>         >>> provisioning activity.
>>         >>>
>>         >>> They already power their AP, have a live internet
>>         connection, are
>>         >>> close by, etc...
>>         >>>
>>         >>> -Andy
>>         >>>
>>         >>
>>         >> _______________________________________________
>>         >> Tech mailing list
>>         >> Tech at srv1.openwireless.org <mailto:Tech at srv1.openwireless.org>
>>         >> https://srv1.openwireless.org/mailman/listinfo/tech
>>         >>
>>         >
>>
>>         _______________________________________________
>>         Tech mailing list
>>         Tech at srv1.openwireless.org <mailto:Tech at srv1.openwireless.org>
>>         https://srv1.openwireless.org/mailman/listinfo/tech
>>
>
>
>     _______________________________________________
>     Tech mailing list
>     Tech at srv1.openwireless.org <mailto:Tech at srv1.openwireless.org>
>     https://srv1.openwireless.org/mailman/listinfo/tech
>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.eff.org/pipermail/tech/attachments/20121106/fb9868f3/attachment.html>


More information about the Tech mailing list