linux-kernel - Re: EFF's Open Wireless Movement - solutions for Linux 802.11 APs

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Date:	Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:50:32 -0400
From:	"David Lynch Jr." <dhlii@...sys.net>
To:	Larry Finger <Larry.Finger@...inger.net>
Cc:	"Luis R. Rodriguez" <mcgrof@...il.com>,
	linux-wireless <linux-wireless@...r.kernel.org>,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, openwireless@....org
Subject: Re: EFF's Open Wireless Movement - solutions for Linux 802.11 APs

On Thu, 2011-04-28 at 13:15 -0500, Larry Finger wrote:

> There is no doubt that the EFF means well; however, there is one situation that 
> they seem to ignore. If any part of my AP is unencrypted and some outsider uses 
> it to download child pornography, the IP address in any server logs is mine. If 
> the authorities recover those logs as part of a criminal investigation and 
> investigate the clients, they will immediately come to me. How do I prove that I 
> am innocent of the porno charge and only guilty of being a good citizen and 
> providing wireless access to the public? I do not relish the thought of becoming 
> a registered sex offender.

	If your WiFi is secured and someone cracks it - something that is
fairly easy, and particularly easy for someone engaging in activities
they do not wish to have traced back to them, now you are in a far worse
state. 
	Regardless of the technical realities, the defense of "somebody else
downloaded child porn through my unsecured access point" has a far
greater likelyhood of prevailing than that of "some evil doer cracked my
WPA2 key and used my access point to download child porn". It is
entirely possible that you will not even be allowed to present that
defense without proving that it actually occured.
	My wife is a public defender handling criminal appeals. There is an
ever increasing number of "sex offender" cases, most of which are far
from the "child preditors" that we all fear. In many states urinating in
public - even hidden behind a tree at an outdoor event where no
facilites were provided could get you a conviction as a registered sex
offender.  
	We have been engaged in an argument that the risks associated with even
a secured access point - and the risk may actually be greater with a
secured one because the burden of proof shifts dramatically, is so great
that it overshadows the value of WiFi.

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