Filed under: Internet, Web services
California bill to protect against stolen WiFi
California is on the road to new legislation that could require manufacturers to protect consumers against WiFi invaders that prowl the streets looking for open connections. Gov. Schwarzenegger is considering the bill due to the fact that that many consumers do not implement security settings on their wireless routers when configuring them. If the bill passes, manufacturers would have to choose between four ways of protecting consumers:
- A warning sticker
- Warning during configuration
- Action taken by consumers indicating they know security measures have not been met
- Manufacturer default setting that enables security
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The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Peter said 6:38PM on 8-31-2006
This is a bit more government than seems necessary.
Next they will have stickers reminding us to brush our teeth and comb our hair.
It's really not that hard to set up a protected network, most people just don't care enough to do it. (Or they don't fully understand the risk.)
You can be sure every manufacturer will be choosing option 1 since they can just slap the stickers on the ones going to California.
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Phatman said 6:55PM on 8-31-2006
None of these seem unreasonable. The manufacturers should be doing something like this on their own without legislation. It's not like they are going to make it a crime for the customer to operate an open wireless access point.
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S. Kirk said 7:05PM on 9-01-2006
No more laws!
Will door makers have to have an electronic warning go off if you forget to lock your door?
WiFi "stealing" is the biggest non-issue of the 21st century.
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Bob Jones said 10:25PM on 8-31-2006
All sound reasonable and it is ultimatley for good.
I wouldn't want my 80 year old gran to get wireless internet, leave it open and be sued by the RIAA because of a bypasser with a laptop and Kazaa.
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Bill said 9:03AM on 9-01-2006
While none of those seems unreasonable, geez, more legislation? Wouldn't a security consortium work almost as well? It would probably cost the government (I mean us) less as well. What's next, force software makers to put stickers on all their software boxes warning about doing periodic updates for security reasons? Same thing, right?
Big government! Hey, how's that feel-good CAN-SPAM legislation from last year working for you?
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bryan said 4:22PM on 9-01-2006
The router that came with my broadband connection was set to broadcast wireless unprotected by defalt. I dont think this is unusual. So consumers with one PC, have no idea they are sharing thier internet connection with thier neighbors. Regardless, I dont think that this should involve the government. There are certainly more important things than unprotected wireless that need our tax dollars.
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