http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/353701/pub-fined-for-illegal-downloads-over-wi-fi

How on earth are managers of pubs meant to police what goes through 
their publicly accessible network? This is a ridiculous victory for the 
totalitarians. Expect many more cases like this now the precedent has 
been established.

"Phil Da Lick!" <phil_the_lick@REMOVETHISSPAMTRAP.hotmail.com> writes:

> http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/353701/pub-fined-for-illegal-downloads-over-wi-fi
>
> How on earth are managers of pubs meant to police what goes through 
> their publicly accessible network? This is a ridiculous victory for the 
> totalitarians. Expect many more cases like this now the precedent has 
> been established.

I totally agree.

Possibly they could get a slap for "neglect" but even that is way off.

I feel sorry for the host of people who think they are "secure" with
WAP.... Their ISPs who provided the HW should be fined.

There is going to be a huge fallout from this.

The one question I do have is this : does the ISP side of things know if
the requests for illegal material come from a connection which is
validated by the router (e.g "secure") or not? Otherwise, if not,
everyone can just say "dont blame me, I didnt know how to secure my
router" even if they are guilty.

Throw in the odd Windows virus too and you could have some very nasty
situations. What they are doing in the UK is nothing short of
scandalous. They are bullying innocent people into paying up.

That said the article could be scare mongering to up the sames of the
rather poor PC Pro.

Verily I say unto thee, that Phil Da Lick! spake thusly:
> http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/353701/pub-fined-for-illegal-downloads-over-wi-fi
> 
> How on earth are managers of pubs meant to police what goes through 
> their publicly accessible network? This is a ridiculous victory for
> the totalitarians. Expect many more cases like this now the precedent
> has been established.

Not a solution to the underlying problem, but may ultimately be the only
answer in our totalitarian society:

http://www.google.com/search?&q=vpn+privacy+service

-- 
K.
http://slated.org

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.. "Remember, if Christmas isn't found in your heart,  .
..  you won't find it under a tree." ~ C. Carpenter    .
..                                                     .
..         Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year          .
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Fedora release 8 (Werewolf) on sky, running kernel 2.6.31.5
 23:28:11 up 56 days,  9:50,  4 users,  load average: 0.02, 0.09, 0.08

Homer <usenet@slated.org> espoused:
> Verily I say unto thee, that Phil Da Lick! spake thusly:
>> http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/security/353701/pub-fined-for-illegal-downloads-over-wi-fi
>> 
>> How on earth are managers of pubs meant to police what goes through 
>> their publicly accessible network? This is a ridiculous victory for
>> the totalitarians. Expect many more cases like this now the precedent
>> has been established.
>
> Not a solution to the underlying problem, but may ultimately be the only
> answer in our totalitarian society:
>
> http://www.google.com/search?&q=vpn+privacy+service
>

That's a mis-reading of the article.  It was the hotspot provider which
was fined, not the pub manager.  That said, it matters neither way,
since UK law doesn't hold either of them responsible.  The Cloud should
appeal this one - it's just plain wrong.

-- 
| mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk                           |
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| Open platforms prevent vendor lock-in.  Own your Own services!       |