So they're becoming an Isp? - Great! Maybe that will give them some exposure to the legal/privacy problems arising from all those nutty anti-privacy and drm bills pushed through in Washington..
Think of the posibilities. Take a trip there, load up Slashdot and click on any link in the comments (goatse) and sue them for broadcasting indecent material.
-- How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life
hehe.. or for concealing the identity of logged on people (by providing an anonymous service) - isn't that illegal in some states now ? I remember hearing the brouhaha about nat'ing becoming illegal due to this.. Would be fun if the first ISP to be tried in court was the FCC:-)/m
The system uses the 802.11a and 802.11b protocols, commonly refered to as WiFi.
What about 802.11g? If they're supporting 802.11a, they might as well support 802.11g, too.
Maybe they figure that the 802.11b users will just slow down the network for everyone, so they won't even bother. Why not have 2 separate APs, then? One for 802.11b and one for 802.11g?
802.11g is backwards compatible so you would still be able to connect there just not at 52 Mbs. If all they are giving public is the ability to access the internet and not share files between computers then there is no hope of getting speeds faster then the 11Mbs that 802.11b will give you anyway. So as of now there isn't that much of a need for 802.11g.
Why not have 2 separate APs, then? One for 802.11b and one for 802.11g?
There's this thing called money that is used as a medium of exchange between people in the market place. It is valuable because it is rare and represents the value of work that is done. Incase you haven't heard, the economy is being a bit slow and the government doesn't have gobbs of it anymore (and neither do we). So to implement twice as many APs they would hate to tax me (one way or another) some more to pay for them. No thanks.
In fact, seeing the defecit we're running - why are they buying APs at all? Is this going to save me money? Is it going to increase my benefits? I'll wager no on both counts.
Spammers
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
It seems pretty ironic that the FCC, while on the one hand leading a battle against spam, would choose to offer Wi-Fi, potentially catering to wannabe spammers. But of course this won't be a problem, since in true US gov't fashion they'll obviously protect the network against this type of misuse.
It seems pretty ironic that the FCC, while on the one hand leading a battle against spam, would choose to offer Wi-Fi, potentially catering to wannabe spammers.
I'm not sure that I understand this comment? I'm sure the FCC will not be connecting the access points directly to their internal network. A spammer sitting in their courtyard won't be able to access the FCC mail relay as if they were in the FCC. They'll only get "plain" access to the internet.
The spammers could run a sendmail process directly on their laptop that would route to the destination mail relay directly, but they could do this from any connection with any ISP. Does anyone filter outgoing SMTP packets? That would would be almost as bad as filter packets destined for port 80!
Does anyone filter outgoing SMTP packets? That would would be almost as bad as filter packets destined for port 80!
Lots of ISPs restrict port 25 connections to their own mail servers (vis. Earthlink), ostensibly to "prevent spam". And while it does raise the bar, it does not prevent spamming. It just coerces the spammer into using the ISP's mail servers from throwaway accounts.
Some ISPs are more draconian. Basic-level AT&T Prepaid Internet appears to permit only ports 80 and 443 to connect out. Their website (unavailable to outside connections, hence no link) hints at an "Enhanced Service" that permits FTP, VPN and some other goodies in return for "providing some information", but they don't tell you how to obtain it. I just put a virtual SSH server on port 80 and added a little port and X forwarding to turn the prepaid access into a usable service.
-- Mail? Put "slashdot" in the subject to pass the spam filters.
The spammers could run a sendmail process directly on their laptop that would route to the destination mail relay directly, but they could do this from any connection with any ISP.
But not anonymously from an IP within the fcc.gov domain.
You've obviously never been to Washington, D.C. The Internet access is free, the parking is not.
Gotta love the FCC
by
commodoresloat
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
At present, the FCC will not request personal identifying information prior to allowing access to the wireless network.An open network. At the FCC. They want as few people as possible on the public airwaves but they'll let anyone on their private network.
Re:Gotta love the FCC
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
This is bull. Anyone can pass a simple 35 question test and get a Technician Class Amateur Radio license and get on the public airwaves.
Re:Gotta love the FCC
by
commodoresloat
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Yeah. And nobody will listen to it except other amateur radio enthusiasts. Meanwhile, thanks to the FCC, anyone who owns a newspaper in one town can now own a television station as well. The FCC's current leadership is making decisions which will lead to further media consolidation and stifle competition. I'm glad they're giving out wifi access, but I don't think it's consistent with the current administration's direction, and I certainly don't expect it to last. (Especially after some hacker uses the anonymous wifi entrance to alter the fcc.gov webpage...)
Re:Gotta love the FCC
by
Alien+Being
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
I've always subscribed to the theory that WiFi won't be profitable as a service itself, but will be provided for free as a "loss leader".
I always assumed however that it would be coffee shops and bookstores that used it to their competative advantage.
Next time I'm in DC, however, I'm going to patronize the FCC instead of any of the other federal agencies!
Seriously, Mike Powell seems to be on the forward edge, especially for a government official. It is good to have people in powerful places that understand technology and its transforming role, who can think independantly of lobbyists or position papers generated by their staff.
Re:Loss Leader
by
afidel
·
· Score: 4, Informative
It doesn't have to be free. McDonalds for instance has a WiFi system where you can order 15 minutes of access for a small fee with your meal. The register just prints a unique number that you put into the web frontend for the NAT system and it gives you a new DHCP lease which is good for 15 minutes. Works well for simply grabbing email from the office or checking out slashdot on your meal break. My friend used it for a couple weeks when he moved into his new place and the DSL transfer took forever.
-- There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
Re:Loss Leader
by
ubrgeek
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
"Seriously, Mike Powell seems to be on the forward edge... It is good to have people... who can think independantly of lobbyists or position papers generated by their staff."
Are you kidding? This guy has nothing right since starting at the FCC. This is a press-release, grip-and-grin victory. This guy is in the lobbyists pockets with all of the media consolidation. Jesus, it took _CONGRESS_ to set him straight and overturn his decision.
Nothing but the fact that the transparant proxy uses the MAC from the DHCP pool. In fact it is only port 80 traffic which needs a code to work, my friend found this out when one day he decided to RDP into one of his servers, he got in then realized he had never authenticated the session that day!
-- There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
they would remove/change their stupid regulation that manufacturers claim forbid them to make opensource WiFi drivers... Well some do claim to have OSS drivers, even under GPL: http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS548876786 9.html , however their "driver" is only a stub to load a closedsource module, and I even wonder if they don't break the GPL by releasing a closed source driver under it.
Re:now if only
by
afidel
·
· Score: 3, Informative
Cisco has full GPL drivers for their.11b cards. In fact there are two drivers, the Cisco official driver and an independant driver written by a college student who was given some tech data by Aironet before they were bought by Cisco. I believe they are working towards one for their.11a cards as well.
-- There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
Re:now if only
by
Chanc_Gorkon
·
· Score: 2, Informative
What reg? The only thing holding back GPL'd drivers for WiFi may be the manufacturers. The FCC won't care about device drivers. They casre about the design of the device. It would be pretty hard with software to make a WiFi card be anything but a WiFi card. Not saying it ain't possible, but highly unlikely.
--
Gorkman
Lousy PDF. here's the text.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 5, Informative
NEWS
News media Information 202 / 418-0500
Fax-On-Demand 202 / 418-2830
TTY 202/418-2555
Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
ftp.fcc.gov
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, D. C. 20554 This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order
constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE News Media Contact:
August 4, 2003 David Fiske (202) 418-0513
Richard Diamond (202) 418-0506
FCC Goes WiFi
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced today that it would
provide free wireless Internet access to visitors at its Washington, D.C. office.
"When you come to the FCC, leave the cords at home," said FCC Chairman Michael K.
Powell. "We're embracing the power of WiFi and the freedom and convenience of wireless
Internet access it gives to consumers."
Last year, Powell directed his staff to take the steps needed to make the FCC one of
the first federal agencies to provide public WiFi access. Visitors bringing their own hardware
and software can use the service on the Twelfth Street, Courtyard, and Eighth Floor levels of
the headquarters located at 445 12th Street, SW in Washington, D.C.
The system uses the 802.11a and 802.11b protocols, commonly referred to as WiFi.
The Commission will be unable to provide technical support, and all transactions using this
service are the responsibility of the visitor. At present, the FCC will not request personal
identifying information prior to allowing access to the wireless network. If requested by
outside authorities, however, the FCC will provide data from system audit logs to support
external investigations of improper Internet use.
If there appears to be a system outage, please call (202) 418-WIFI.
- FCC -
you're not looking for a slashdotter
by
commodoresloat
·
· Score: 3, Funny
Can't a DC based Slashdotter pay a visit to the FCC and check it out? Is outbound port 25 blocked?
You misspelled "spammer."
Why issue the press release as a PDF?
by
webword
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Is this press release meant for screen reading or printing? If it really meant for printing, I guess that's fine, but if it is meant for online reading it is stupid to use the PDF format. Jakob has some comments on this topic, if you care. Then again, some people think he's full of crap.
Re:pdf press release
by
afidel
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Why do you care, the software is free, heck there are even Free alternatives. You can publish pdf's with Free and free software too since Adobe made the standard open. I don't know why anyone would have a problem with pdf. It's a perfect way to do device independant publishing.
-- There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
Re:Nice....
by
Chanc_Gorkon
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Yep. And for once I am happy about it. WiFi is cheap in the grand scheme of things. What they bought like 3 AP's for the DC office? That's not alot of our Tax Dollars being wasted. And for once, the FCC may have a clue!
--
Gorkman
Never ending copyright loop
by
heyyojay
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
They have just opend a can of worms. Now they are offering a service that can almost not be tracked, free for people to download music and illegal movies. If i were the guy in charge at the FCC (no offence) I would rethink this idea and change it quick because the free wifi can, and WILL be abused.
How anonymous are you really? Like, computers like to chatter, especially windows. Is your netbios name somehow descriptive of who you are? If there is an imaps connection into some other site so you can get your mail, you've created a trail that, with the other site's help, can identify who you are.
Or sites you browse. Like slashdot. "This page was generated by.*for (.*) \(" or something like that will lift your slashdot username. From there you can browse the person's comment history, learn little tidbits about them, all leading to possible identification.
It's difficult to stay really anonymous if someone wants to track you down bad enough...
The nice thing about wide open wifi points in neighborhoods and such is that if it's wide open, it's most likely due to user stupidity and hence nothing is going to be noticed or tracked by the user or the ISP.
I wouldn't be so quick to do anything clandestine on a federal agency wifi network, that's for sure.
Two words: Portability; Standards
by
jstockdale
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Why release the document in PDF if it is meant for the internet? How about because the PDF ensures true to original formatting and text? Just because something is electronic doesn't mean that it can't be a document, and thats where PDF comes in; PDF bridges the gap between the printed and electronic document worlds, because it renders irrelent where, when or by whom the electronic doc is printed, or if it is printed at all. It doesn't matter whether you want to read the document on your *nix/OSX/Win/Palm/JVM, you can get a supported app that will render it appropriately and clearly for your device, regardless of resolution. Don't even get me started on Word documents being distributed instead of PDF. Additionally, PDF allows for revision history, you know exactly what document you are discussing, without the need for cross checking access dates on a webpage (which I assume would be the alternative). Especially with my background in graphics and design work, PDFs are a godsend when exporting vector work or text. This is especially true when Joe Average decides to print something off www/email. PDF = perfect print, txt/html/rtf = same print, plus the wonderful bonus of having whatever mutilations Mr. Average's printer settings and margins decide to make /rant
-- **AA: a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes
Won't last long...
by
st0rmshad0w
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
This will last about as long as it takes for someone to trace an attack back to their wifi access.
I could be mistaken...
by
syukton
·
· Score: 2, Funny
...but I think we just slashdotted the FCC.
Is this something we should be concerned about?
-- Reinvent the wheel only at either a lower cost, greater effectiveness, or your own personal enrichment and satisfaction.
Slashdot Mirror
So they're becoming an Isp? - Great! Maybe that will give them some exposure to the legal/privacy problems arising from all those nutty anti-privacy and drm bills pushed through in Washington..
Now I can read my RFC's via WIFI at the FCC!
The system uses the 802.11a and 802.11b protocols, commonly refered to as WiFi.
What about 802.11g? If they're supporting 802.11a, they might as well support 802.11g, too.
Maybe they figure that the 802.11b users will just slow down the network for everyone, so they won't even bother. Why not have 2 separate APs, then? One for 802.11b and one for 802.11g?
It seems pretty ironic that the FCC, while on the one hand leading a battle against spam, would choose to offer Wi-Fi, potentially catering to wannabe spammers. But of course this won't be a problem, since in true US gov't fashion they'll obviously protect the network against this type of misuse.
Not.
So now I can park in their car park and dl all the pr0n and MP3s I want ?
I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
At present, the FCC will not request personal identifying information prior to allowing access to the wireless network.An open network. At the FCC. They want as few people as possible on the public airwaves but they'll let anyone on their private network.
I always assumed however that it would be coffee shops and bookstores that used it to their competative advantage.
Next time I'm in DC, however, I'm going to patronize the FCC instead of any of the other federal agencies!
Seriously, Mike Powell seems to be on the forward edge, especially for a government official. It is good to have people in powerful places that understand technology and its transforming role, who can think independantly of lobbyists or position papers generated by their staff.
they would remove/change their stupid regulation that manufacturers claim forbid them to make opensource WiFi drivers...6 9.html , however their "driver" is only a stub to load a closedsource module, and I even wonder if they don't break the GPL by releasing a closed source driver under it.
Well some do claim to have OSS drivers, even under GPL:
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS54887678
NEWS
News media Information 202 / 418-0500
Fax-On-Demand 202 / 418-2830
TTY 202/418-2555
Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
ftp.fcc.gov
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, D. C. 20554 This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order
constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE News Media Contact:
August 4, 2003 David Fiske (202) 418-0513
Richard Diamond (202) 418-0506
FCC Goes WiFi
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced today that it would provide free wireless Internet access to visitors at its Washington, D.C. office. "When you come to the FCC, leave the cords at home," said FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell. "We're embracing the power of WiFi and the freedom and convenience of wireless Internet access it gives to consumers."
Last year, Powell directed his staff to take the steps needed to make the FCC one of the first federal agencies to provide public WiFi access. Visitors bringing their own hardware and software can use the service on the Twelfth Street, Courtyard, and Eighth Floor levels of the headquarters located at 445 12th Street, SW in Washington, D.C.
The system uses the 802.11a and 802.11b protocols, commonly referred to as WiFi. The Commission will be unable to provide technical support, and all transactions using this service are the responsibility of the visitor. At present, the FCC will not request personal identifying information prior to allowing access to the wireless network. If requested by outside authorities, however, the FCC will provide data from system audit logs to support external investigations of improper Internet use.
If there appears to be a system outage, please call (202) 418-WIFI.
- FCC -
You misspelled "spammer."
Is this press release meant for screen reading or printing? If it really meant for printing, I guess that's fine, but if it is meant for online reading it is stupid to use the PDF format. Jakob has some comments on this topic, if you care. Then again, some people think he's full of crap.
How to Download YouTube Videos
Why do you care, the software is free, heck there are even Free alternatives. You can publish pdf's with Free and free software too since Adobe made the standard open. I don't know why anyone would have a problem with pdf. It's a perfect way to do device independant publishing.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
They'll all be in PDF.
Does a warm cup of censorship come with it?
Now I know where to go when I want to download mp3s. I bet the RIAA will have fun when they figure out who's IP address they tracked down.
YOUR tax dollars at work....
They have just opend a can of worms. Now they are offering a service that can almost not be tracked, free for people to download music and illegal movies. If i were the guy in charge at the FCC (no offence) I would rethink this idea and change it quick because the free wifi can, and WILL be abused.
Honeypot?
Why release the document in PDF if it is meant for the internet? How about because the PDF ensures true to original formatting and text? Just because something is electronic doesn't mean that it can't be a document, and thats where PDF comes in; PDF bridges the gap between the printed and electronic document worlds, because it renders irrelent where, when or by whom the electronic doc is printed, or if it is printed at all. It doesn't matter whether you want to read the document on your *nix/OSX/Win/Palm/JVM, you can get a supported app that will render it appropriately and clearly for your device, regardless of resolution. Don't even get me started on Word documents being distributed instead of PDF. Additionally, PDF allows for revision history, you know exactly what document you are discussing, without the need for cross checking access dates on a webpage (which I assume would be the alternative). Especially with my background in graphics and design work, PDFs are a godsend when exporting vector work or text. This is especially true when Joe Average decides to print something off www/email. PDF = perfect print, txt/html/rtf = same print, plus the wonderful bonus of having whatever mutilations Mr. Average's printer settings and margins decide to make
/rant
**AA: a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes
This will last about as long as it takes for someone to trace an attack back to their wifi access.
...but I think we just slashdotted the FCC.
Is this something we should be concerned about?
Reinvent the wheel only at either a lower cost, greater effectiveness, or your own personal enrichment and satisfaction.