Consumers unite wirelessly [let's get it legalised already...]

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[post=207219]
MaD said:
When wireless networks are legalised all our problems will be a thing of the past
Click to expand...
[/post]I agree, we need to force a change to legislation & regulations - preferably before the ink dries on the Convergence Bill & whatever changes are made to the ICASA Act...

Where do we start?

The eternal question that I want answered is why is it illegal in the first place?

This is a question I want ICASA to answer informally via back-channels - I want to know if it's bcos Telkomonopoly told her Poisonous Ivyness that wireless networks would compete the hell out government's money spinner...

Perhaps we could ask some of the former ICASA people...

From there we need to force a change - whatever non-violent & legal means necessary...

%your_ideas%...
 
I think Telkom told IVY that her precious few brain cells are in danger from the wireless radio waves travelling in the air.

Wireless networks shouldn't be illegal
 
but they are and frankly the chances of getting that changed right now do not look promising (at least insofar as not having a VANS licence or the convergence bill equivalent is concerned)

civil disobedience - taking up the fight against what you justifiably regard as being an inequitable law...take the example of the reverend allan hendrickse swimming on the "white's only" beach in PE during the height of apartheid - would seem to be the only way to go at this stage

if a law exists which cannot be enforced then imho it is a bad law
if a law exists which is being selectively ignored then imho it is a bad law
if a law exists which unjustifiably prejudices a majority then imho it is a bad law

grow it slowly, grow it quietly, gather strength and numbers until it becomes a viable alternative for a large number of people....this is what underpins mesh networks
 
Truth be told, I have a wireless internet connection which goes *ACROSS PROPERTY BORDERS*.. heaven forbid.

Yup the telecommunications act isnt 2-ply but it will do the job, the useless piece of legislation that it is.
 
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Is there any precedent set for an individual (not a company) being part of a WUG being taken to court and prosecuted ?

What would they be charged with ? - broadcasting without a license ?

It seems to me that it should be a simple case of a yearly license - much like CB radio license - payable to government so long as your wireless mesh is not for profit !

You would also probably have to sign an agreement as to the types of data that will be shared - no illegal content IOW - and that your network can be inspected at any time to ensure no illegal content is being distributed. (Permission would need to be granted first of course)

Lets face it, there's no threat to Telkom in this country, for these simple reasons :-

* We have a small population
* Out of our population group, only a tiny fraction of people will be interested
* A service provider would still have to be paid to access the Internet

I think the only problem a service provider would have is if a node were sharing the service providers connection with everyone in a WUG - I guess it depends what is stated in thier contract.
 
Frankly I am more interested in attacking this from a free Community network POV, I personally could care less about subscription based profit making Wireless networks, and I think we stand more of a chance if we get the free Community Wireless User Group legalised across public borders - since there is no commercial aspect to that sort of network.

At the risk of encouraging "illegal activity" I support people already part of WUGs that have signals travelling over the wall between themselves & their neighbours or across the street. As soon as I can dedicate some R1300 or whatever for the kit I will be joining up - right now I have too many things leaching my money in other directions :(...nuff said fred...

If the profit turning Wireless networks ultimately have to be VANS licenced with ICASA then so be it, but free Community based WUGs must be unlicenced and unregulated - IMO.

We need to be looking at what such Community WUGs are used for, and will be used for i.e. the +ves not as a possible medium for piracy which is possibly a weapon that opponents might try to use against Community WUGs. I imagine networked gaming, sharing of legal s/w like Linux distros that cost too much to download via ISPz, you could host a M$ Software Update Services server [or whatever it's called nowadays] for sharing of M$ hotfixes & patches to everyone with Windoze 2000 & XP [not sure about '98 & other deviant M$ OSz]. You could also setup a VoIP local hub & stick it to Telkomonopoly for increasing local call rates... Then there are similar benefits that Schools could get if Community WUGs were officially legal...

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we should not have to live with a threat of wireless equipment being confiscated bcos of some dumbass that decided to make it illegal for wireless signals to travel past one's own perimeter walls...
 
Govmint is there to project the public from itself.
The free mesh sounds all nice, but could quickly escalate into an uncontrolled child-porn ring. Monies from Licence fees are usually charged to fund the policing of information passed around on a network. That is their excuse methinks for not allowing the MESH NW in the first place.

Reality = Only when a complaint is raised, is anything done.

Therefore, the SABC licence should be plenty funding enough already to cover the Community Mesh network policing costs.

i.e. Argue that we already pay for the right to have stuff we want broadcasted to us - by SABC, but now expand this right to give us the freedom to broadcast what we as community want to broadcast, and fund it from the S.A.B.C. LICENCING funds.

LOL.
 
stoke said:
Govmint is there to project the public from itself.
The free mesh sounds all nice, but could quickly escalate into an uncontrolled child-porn ring. Monies from Licence fees are usually charged to fund the policing of information passed around on a network. That is their excuse methinks for not allowing the MESH NW in the first place.
Click to expand...

I really don't think there is much chance of uncontrolled child-porn rings. Mesh networks require people in fairly close proximity to link up and you can't exactly go door to door asking people if they'd be interested in joining ;)
 
I don't see an opportunity for a unmonitored kiddy-porn-ring to suddenly toadstool itself into existence totally unnoticed, IMO the community itself would notice, and it would be reported to the local cop shop or a special unit that would arrest the culprits.

IMO a Community WUG has nothing to do with piracy or with porn of any sort, there are plenty of reasons for such a network to flourish without illegal activity.
 
Your Own Mesh.....

See Thread http://www.mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=17155

and this is what I found while trolling around - first class instructions on how to hook up your own MESH network..there is also intersting stuff there from some awesome Danish fellows who seem to be writing ther gospel internationally on MESH technologies....

See http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/wir...relessmesh.html
for info on what Mesh Networking and gives guidelines on how you can build a local area mesh network....NICE!
See http://conferences.oreillynet.com/c...iew/e_sess/4697 for more for countires like ours!!!!
Me thinks we should recruit the writers of these articles onto our forum! *hmmmmm she thinks, clever clever*

See what MicroSoft has to say http://research.microsoft.com/mesh/

and from the world summit
http://research.microsoft.com/meshsummit/

What do you think chaps? Possible in SA, Can we MAKE it happen?
 
My wireless kit has been one of my best investments ever.
 
Yep, WUGs already exist and I totally agree that we should not have to wait for WiFi signals across public borders to be legalised, I do however want the archaic regs dropped & everything legalised, otherwise we may as well revert to living in caves & become hunter gatherers in loin-cloths brandishing defunct antennas to hunt down our prey...
 
I cant see the authorities having the manpower or financial resources to shut down 100+ illegal nodes that pop up overnight - it will force deregulation - the same way that informal traders on streetcorners did.......food for thought
 
They have far better things to do than run around trying to get ppl to remove their antenna's off their rooves. My wireless signal crosses around 15-20 public roads. All I wanted was to be able to use my laptop at the bottom of my garden... whoops...
 
To me it is not about whether there is the capability to enforce this rediculous restrictive archaic regulation, it is about getting rid of the regulation that should not be there at all - I know that ICASA don't have the resources or the time to do enforcing this dumbass regulation, and it isn't causing planes to drop out of the sky - even if Usama Laden with a Rubbish Bin is onboard at the time...

Basically I want the regulation scrapped ASAP, but just bcos there is a dumbass regulation in place don't let it stop you from joining a Community WUG.
 
They'll never stop individual users creating a mesh. Heck it would probably cost them more in court costs to confiscate your equipment than what it's worth. You could be back up and running in the same day and they would have to go through the same process again. Actually has anyone here ever had equipment confiscated by ICASA? I doubt it unless you were interfering with a licensed band.
 
eh, not me. I have never used wireless illegally :D And thats my story and I am sticking to it!
 
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