Courts Freak Out That People Might Actually Use Their Wireless Networks

from the what-will-they-think-of-next? dept

This story seems bizarre, but apparently a bunch of courts are somehow unprepared for the fact that people might actually use the WiFi networks they installed. Most of the article focuses on a reporter sending out realtime updates for a court case via the WiFi, leading to this absolutely classic quote from someone from the court: "In my life, I would have never thought you could do any of that. When we put the wireless network in about two years ago, we didn't think anybody would even use it." Yeah, they just installed it for the hell of it. How dare someone actually use it! The rest of the article goes on to discuss just how "dangerous" this situation is, and how courts don't understand what a risk these networks are. It also refers to "WiFi" as the "informal" name for wireless networks -- when it's actually very much the formal, certified name for them.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Ron, 21 Dec 2004 @ 6:38am

    get out more

    "It also refers to "WiFi" as the "informal" name for wireless networks -- when it's actually very much the formal, certified name for them.".......Mike, true or not, that fact that this bothers you tells me you need to get out more.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    bob, 21 Dec 2004 @ 8:54am

    WiFi?

    I have always considered "WiFi" to be some bastard marketing term to make wireless networking more "accessible".
    I'd always called it 802.11b ... now I have an 802.11g network.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    mark, 21 Dec 2004 @ 9:01am

    wifi


    Actually, not to be nitpicky, but WiFi is just a trade group that ceritifies that one vendor plays with the other. Not that that's a bad thing.
    The formal name for them would be 802.11[abg...].
    So, unusual, but they actually got it right in the article. :)

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.