www.meshworks.ws defying Icasa in Jhb

[John]

http://www.meshworks.ws/ has started to implement Locustworld
meshbox wi-fi WISP service in Johannesburg. Their intention is to
use locustworld meshboxes like cellphone towers, creating their own
phone network.

See the article at http://www.locustworld.com/news.php?mesh=58
They are doing this in complete violation of Icasa's <i> interpretation </i> or the law.

I am asking Andries Mathysen and Lee Ann Cassie the Icasa
enforcement officer to please explain to this forum what they
are going to do about this open and flagrant taunting of their
<i>perceived</i> authority. And when will you Lee Ann CAssie confiscate Nelspruit /Whiteriver municipality wi-fi network ?
I reported their network to you a year ago, and their Network is still
up.

Below are Andries and Lee Cassie contact details. Lets request Icasa
to reply to this thread and have them tell us what they are going
to do.

Andries MATHYSEN
amatthysen@icasa.org.za
011- 321 8200

Lee-Ann Cassie
Enforcement officer
LACassie@icasa.org.za

 

[Nickste]

Dude, why do u want to shut them down?

Nick Smit
broadband@nicksmit dot za dot net

 

[mbs]

Don't think this is JOHN's intent, NICKSTE - aim is to make public ICASA's incompetence and preferential, skewed interpretations/actions when it comes to license enforcement and compliance with the law. They're supposed to be the Regulator, but are not applying the regulations as they're meant to. This either highlights the stupidity of the regulations, in the event that they cannot apply them equally, or provides a pointer to corruption. In both instances, it highlights the fact that our telecoms environment is really problematic. JOHN, please post any response you get from ICASA...

 

[podo]

Nickste,

Because he is a forum troll, and probably because he was involved with SAWireless (which he now denies), and because SAWireless supposedly dissapeared because of supposed regulatory pressure (translation: because they were fly by nights who didn't have the money for APs)

Willie Viljoen
Web Developer

Adaptive Web Development

 

[John]

Podo now that you mention Joe's site sawireless, there is something
he told me over the phone a while ago. As he was doing research
he noticed that in the government gazett the ANC commissioned certain
long distance wi-fi communication links in violation of Icasa's
<i>interpretation </i> of the Telcoms law 1996. (No judge has yet
made a ruling on the law as it applies to wi-fi)
Now as I stated on my site, you can't have one set of laws for the ANC and another for us peasants. If the Sandton police station where
Andries laid criminal charges against www.wavestream.co.za,
prosecuting them would set a precedent setting case and then
the ANC government departments like the
<b> Department of Education
must also prosecuted... See http://www.aln.co.za/
</b>

So please everybody email Lee Ann and Andries and ask them who are the investigating officer on www.wavestream.co.za
<b>Lets have some fun with ICASA! </b>

 

[MaD]

I say set up as many wireless links as humanly possible.

<font color="navy"><font size="1"><b>Where others have progress, we have Telkom.</b>
Hellkom website - www.hellkom.co.za</font id="size1"></font id="navy">

 

[freeek]

i agree

..- dot dot dash

 

[martin]

Been thinking about this a lot lately. It's probably one of the only ways we can do something that will have an immediate benefit for ourselves. International access will probably still be a problem though.

 

[mbs]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">...would set a precedent setting case and then
the ANC government departments like the
Department of Education
must also prosecuted... See http://www.aln.co.za/
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
JOHN, methinks you've got it wrong - the ALN have nothing to do with Government and the DOE, but is instead a civil society advocacy movement focussed on adult learning. I have a problem with taking-on bodies like this - it runs contrary to the development ethic, and serves your WISP motivation no good. Similarly, your submissions regarding Government are somewhat misplaced, IMHO - if you have a problem with ICASA and their interpretation of the regulations as they currently stand, then take it up with ICASA. Mandla Langa is an accommodating type who is very concerned with walking the straight and narrow...

 

[John]

The Adult Basic education program is a joint initiative between Gov and NGO's.
www.wavestream.co.za mountain highsites are not sealed by ICASA, but one of www.duxbury.co.za
towers was sealed with a plastic bag. Wavestream told me it is their government 'contacts'
that prevents ICASA from sealing their towers. So whe as an opensource mesh must also
get government 'contacts' ... like bringing internet to black schools.
http://education.pwv.gov.za/index.asp?src=dire&xsrc=aedu

http://sawireless.tripod.com

 

[mbs]

JOHN, I say it again - you have it wrong. The ABET programme is indeed a programme of Government (DOE), but the ALN is not - this is an independent civil society initiative, which works with all who are committed to the improvement of adult literacy. Don't confuse the two - they're not the same thing.

I do, however, go along with what you say about connectivity of under-serviced schools (and note: they're not necessarily 'black', even though the preponderance are indeed so), and agree that WISP provision would assist. However, why not put together a comprehensive, holistic business plan pitched at a specific under-serviced community, get cooperative agreement from the regional education officials, the local educator representatives from SADTU, the parents and community (perhaps work via the local churches), the local Open Source pundits (if there is a local usergroup, use it), and even local business, then present it as almost a <i>fait accompli</i> to ICASA? I'm positive that it would be looked upon favourably and would win the day, as opposed to the confrontational approach. It's only such time as it can be proven that this approach will not work, that we can take on ICASA. The point being, that obvious intitiatives designed to promote governmental objectives will put Andries and his inspectorate in their place, not so?