[ale] wireless at Starbucks

[Geoffrey Myers]

On Jun 7, 2008, at 7:11 PM, Jim Kinney wrote:

> I'd prefer the analogy of stomping firmly into the puddle of  
> wireless non-security.
>
> I did not use or access the systems I saw. I only observed passively  
> the signal they broadcast.

Okay, but when you said:

"While riding into work a few weeks back I fired up the laptop and  
discovered I really did not need my cell-phone card. All I needed to  
do was crank up kismet and piggy back of the residential  
wirelessnodes. At any given time I could see 20+ nodes and 3-5 were  
unlocked."

I got the impression you actually connected..

> If a neighbours pecan tree drops a pecan into the street, can I eat  
> it? What if I can reach that pecan without stepping into their yard?  
> What if they don't do anything with their pecans but ruin them with  
> a lawnmower, can I dash in just be fore they mow and scoop up as  
> many as I can to keep them from going to waste. BTW: this is a real  
> situation and I have dashed and salvaged pecans before they mowed  
> them all into oblivion - every year. I also offered them some but  
> they weren't interested - so I don't any more.

I think it unlikely that argument will stand up in court when  
discussing wireless networks.

> Should I pay RIAA for music I can hear from a neighbours stereo? I  
> would fight a court order to do so just because RIAA disgusts me.

I would tend to agree with that as well.  I don't know of a case where  
they actually have tried the above.

--
Later, Geoffrey