Horses, One - Barn Door, Zero

A friend moved into a new apartment last year. His original plan computer-wise was to get broadband cable Internet for his main computer and, via wireless router and NIC card, allow his second computer to piggyback off the main computer's connection. But then, a funny thing happened. When he turned on his second computer, he noticed it was already connecting to the Internet. Apparently, someone either in his apartment complex or otherwise close by was using an unprotected wireless router and he could piggyback off the connection. So, instead of signing up for broadband cable Internet, he bought a second wireless NIC card, installed it in his main computer, and now both have broadband wireless Internet service for FREE. All he had to do was establish a free web-based email account to send and receive email. And, to this day, he hasn't spent a penny for broadband Internet.

Nowadays, most wireless routers and NIC cards operate in an unprotected network environment. If one wireless NIC card can communicate with a wireless router, another ten might be able to do so if they're close enough to the router.. And on its face, it may not seem like a major problem. After all, these wireless units don't have unlimited range. But, in these days of DMCA, the risk is obvious.

Imagine you have a similar scenario. Your computer is in your study, hooked up to a broadband cable Internet connection. Your wife's computer piggybacks off your connection with a wireless NIC card and so does your son's computer. All three of you use the Internet for the most mundane of purposes ... sending and receiving email, doing online research, and perhaps downloading some iTunes music every now and then. But then, BANG BANG BANG at your door. The RIAA says you've been sharing multiple hip-hop albums by the latest most popular hip-hop artists ... and the MPAA says you've been seeding torrents for a dozen first-run films, some of which haven't even been released in theaters yet. And, they both intend to sue you and possibly see you in jail.

Keep in mind that the RIAA and MPAA have only one means of identifying a pirate ... by the IP number of his/her Internet connection. And that's a number usually assigned by an ISP and parroted by your wireless router. But if neither you nor your wife nor your son were engaged in these activities, did they target your household by mistake? Not necessarily. You see, it could be anyone who lives within a reasonable distance from you who is piggybacking off your router. And there's no way you could learn the identities of the piggybackers unless freedom in this country degrades to a point where the RIAA and MPAA are allowed to do Gestapo-like door-to-door searches of your neighbors.

You would think that, by now, legal watchdogs would make the sale of unprotected network tools (routers/NICs) unlawful ... that there needs to be a password protection scheme that the router owner can set up. But no, that's not the case. Unprotected network tools are still widely and legally available. I suspect this is so because officials don't see it as a big problem due to range factors. Unfortunately, that's about to change in a major way ... and the ability of officials to close the proverbial barn door before the horses escape is quickly slipping through their fingers - unless they regulate quickly.

Case in point, the city of Portland, Oregon.

City fathers want Portland to be known as the WIFI-friendly city ... a place where conventioneers, travelling businesspersons, and tourists can enjoy FREE access to the Internet. So, they've contracted with a company called MetroFI. As long as you are close to one of their WIFI hotspots, you can log onto the Internet for free. The "free" access is paid for via forced ads sent to user browsers ... which most people consider a small price to pay for free broadband Internet. You don't need to download any special software to connect ... nor do you even have to reveal true information about yourself to register with MetroFI. You just connect and off you go.

Of course, it's not as important to think of MetroFI as "free" broadband as it is to think of it as "anonymous" broadband. MetroFI has no real handle on the identities of their free clients ... no simple way to track them down. This is especially true since many WIFI devotees use laptops which could be in a home today, a library tomorrow, a cafe the next day, and on a university campus the day after that. An unprotected router owner might be able to count piggybackers on one hand. But MetroFI (an unprotected net) will soon count piggybackers in the millions. And as long as they make the numbers ad-wise and get paid well, the impetus would be behind expanding the network even further.

Think about it. A million or more anonymous broadband Internet users ... users who could, at any time, choose to pirate music and films knowing there was no way to trace them. Then multiply MetroFI by the hundreds of other free broadband wireless Internet providers springing up all over the country. As of now, no one has sent up a warning flag. The question is, when (if ever) will it be sent up?