Re: Hypothesis Sought...

In article <slrnfm19q1.801.foo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Ian
Gregory <foo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 2007-12-13, Lee <rarrebird_@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Don't free outlets advertise that they are free and include the conditions
for free use of their signal?

Which part of the 802.11 or DHCP protocols allow a wireless access
point to communicate terms of service to the user of the connecting
machine before assigning an IP address?

No, they don't advertise that they are free in their signal. After
they have given you an IP address and you try to browse then your
HTTP requests may be redirected to a proxy server which presents
you with a welcome message or terms of service or a login screen
where you have to authenticate with a username and password
to be granted access to the web. You can't discover what their
conditions are until after you have already connected to their
network so it would be unreasonable for the conditions to say
that you are not permitted to connect!

Once you are connected, if you are not presented with any
restrictive conditions and are given full Internet access
then you are expected to just go ahead and use it - why else
would they have given it to you?

it's either intentionally public, or it's public because they don't
realize how to secure the network, or they simply don't care. and the
key is that there is usually no easy way to tell which one it is.

some people think that if there's any question about the intent of the
network, then the network is automatically private. others think that
since there are numerous public networks without passwords or
authentication pages, then any network that lacks a password or sign-in
page is intended for the public.

as for whether it is legal or not, laws vary. it is nowhere near as
clear cut as people want it to be.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Installing a 360 Media Center Extender
    ... Also, what is the make/model/driver version of the network card in your PC, ... This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. ... try directly connecting your PC and Xbox again, ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter)
  • Re: Group Policy loading
    ... behaviour connecting the new Intel D915GUX motherboard based computer ... The motherboard utilizes an on-board Marvell Yukon 1GB network card. ... has something to do with network drivers. ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.group_policy)
  • Problems uploading large files to some web sites (long)
    ... NATted OBSD 3.1 running pf with all internal hosts connecting via ethernet through a switch or a wireless access point connected to the switch. ... On or about the time the servers were moved to the Yahoo net I became unable to upload photos via their upload form. ... Trying the same tests on my home network, but with my desktop connected via a VPN to the office network. ...
    (comp.unix.bsd.openbsd.misc)
  • RE: Speed test for connecting to Oracle for Windows via ODBC
    ... 'ask support' response may not be helpful in many of these cases. ... Speed test for connecting to Oracle for Windows via ODBC ... Your "blame the network guy statements" miss the point that for a lot of us ...
    (perl.dbi.users)
  • Re: ActiveSync 4.1 USB Forever Connecting Problem Fixed - Cisco VPN Co
    ... The whole purpose of a firewall is to ... prevent things from happening like external devices connecting to network ... Previously I had ActiveSync 3.8 ...
    (microsoft.public.pocketpc.activesync)