[penguicon-general] The Wi-Fi Liberator

[john guest]

If by interesting, you mean "controversial", why yes, it is.

I think that eventually we'll get to a point where wi-fi is free and
ubiquitous.  In public areas, like airports, one can make the argument
that since services like restrooms, drinking fountains, and the
occaisional power point to plug in your laptop are "free" (despite the
latter being there for cleaning appliances), that you should provide
wi-fi for free.  But these services are paid for by the airlines (and
thus the passengers) and whatever local governing body manages the
facility (and at least in the U.S., this means the taxpayer) in the
name of providing an attractive and useful facility.

At the same time, you need to pay to use a telephone, and you need to
pay for other "premium" amenities like food, reading material, and
parking.

So, I think the real question is has the price of wi-fi dropped
sufficiently and become ubiquitously expected to the point that you
can consider it to be a requirement like a public toilet or a drinking
fountain?  And like a drinking fountain, do you really want to use it,
or are you going to spend a buck and buy bottled water, to at least
have the illusion that it's been filtered and disinfected?

Going out an purposely cracking for-pay wi-fi services is the
equivalent of crawling under the door of a pay toilet.  (And how many
of those do you run into anymore?)
Essentially, it's a minor thing, but until wi-fi becomes a ubiquitous
service where the cost is padded into the infrastructure budget, like
toilets and lights, then someone is going to want to make money on it.
 And cracking for-pay services is theft, regardless of how petty it
is, or how wrong the current model is.

On the otherhand, a drop in revenue from for-pay services is going to
make providing the service on a profit basis less attractive.  From a
Penguicon perspective, after getting (ahem) shafted by a couple
hotels, we are no longer doing business with said establishments.  So,
for hotels interested in doing business with groups like us, there is
economic pressure to offer internet services either free or at a
significantly reduced rate.  We'll see if this makes a difference.

Anyway, my $0.02 worth...

--John Guest

On 2/4/07, Matt Arnold <matt.mattarn at gmail.com> wrote:
> This project is interesting, isn't it? -Matt
>
> http://www.coin-operated.com/projects/wifiliberator.html
>
> Wifi Liberator is an open-source toolkit for a laptop computer that
> enables its user to "liberate" pay-per-use wireless networks and
> create a free, open node that anyone can connect to for Internet
> access. It critically examines the tensions between providers trying
> to profit from the increasingly minimal costs associated with setting
> up a public network and casual users who simply want to see the
> Internet transform into another "public utility" and become as
> ubiquitous and free as the air we breath. The project targets
> pay-per-use wireless networks as often found in airports, other public
> terminals, hotels, global-chain coffee shops, and other public waiting
> points.
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