Re: Comcast thinks it ok to install public wifi in your house

[Owen DeLong <owen () delong com>]

While I generally support the lawsuit, I have to question "a vast burden on their electric bill".

Does an 802.11 transmitter that was already being used to support their own WiFi network that they are paying for 
really consume vastly more electricity to support a second SSID? In my experience, that claim is hard to fathom.

Owen

> On Dec 10, 2014, at 18:35 , Jeroen van Aart <jeroen () mompl net> wrote:
>
> Why am I not surprised?
>
> Whose fault would it be if your comcast installed public wifi would be abused to download illegal material or launch 
> a botnet, to name some random fun one could have on your behalf. :-/
>
> (apologies if this was posted already, couldn't find an email about it on the list)
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/12/10/disgruntled_customers_lob_sueball_at_comcast_over_public_wifi/
>
> "A mother and daughter are suing Comcast claiming the cable giant's router in their home was offering public Wi-Fi 
> without their permission.
>
> Comcast-supplied routers broadcast an encrypted, private wireless network for people at home, plus a non-encrypted 
> network called XfinityWiFi that can be used by nearby subscribers. So if you're passing by a fellow user's home, you 
> can lock onto their public Wi-Fi, log in using your Comcast username and password, and use that home's bandwidth.
>
> However, Toyer Grear, 39, and daughter Joycelyn Harris – who live together in Alameda County, California – say they 
> never gave Comcast permission to run a public network from their home cable connection.
>
> In a lawsuit [PDF] filed in the northern district of the golden state, the pair accuse the ISP of breaking the 
> Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and two other laws.
>
> Grear – a paralegal – and her daughter claim the Xfinity hotspot is an unauthorized intrusion into their private 
> home, places a "vast" burden on electricity bills, opens them up to attacks by hackers, and "degrades" their 
> bandwidth.
>
> "Comcast does not, however, obtain the customer's authorization prior to engaging in this use of the customer's 
> equipment and internet service for public, non-household use," the suit claims.
>
> "Indeed, without obtaining its customers' authorization for this additional use of their equipment and resources, 
> over which the customer has no control, Comcast has externalized the costs of its national Wi-Fi network onto its 
> customers."
>
> The plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages for themselves and on behalf of all Comcast customers nation-wide in 
> their class-action case – the service was rolled out to 20 million customers this year."
>
> -- 
> Earthquake Magnitude: 4.8
> Date: 2014-12-10  22:10:36.800 UTC
> Date Local: 2014-12-10 13:10:36 PST
> Location: 120km W of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
> Latitude: -6.265; Longitude: 154.4004
> Depth: 35 km | e-quake.org