Open Wi-Fi May Become Illegal In India

chromoZ writes with word that because of the serial blasts in Indian cities (and terrorist outfits claiming responsibility via email, often sent via Cyber Cafes and open Wi-Fi spots), sharing unsecured wireless access may get much tougher in India: "The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) after studying open Wifi networks is coming up with a set of guidelines and recommendations to secure them. 'All ISPs may be instructed to ensure that their subscribers using wireless devices must use effective authentication mechanisms and permit access to internet to only authorised persons using wireless devices.' An open Wi-Fi could be as much as illegal in India after this."

Comments

Solution: authorize everyone

[noidentity]

All ISPs may be instructed to ensure that their subscribers using wireless devices must use effective authentication mechanisms and permit access to internet to only authorised persons using wireless devices.

Simple solution: authorize everyone with WiFi capability to access your network. The authentication is very strong, as anyone without WiFi capability will absolutely not be allowed to connect.

What a pity

[the_other_chewey]

I recently toured Skandinavia. In every reasonably big city
(that means "more than 15 houses" over there), you can nearly
be sure to find some open access point. Of course, some of
those are cluess users using lousy default configs - but quite
a lot are deliberately open, with SSIDs like "welcome_to_stockholm".

One even ran a guestbook on the AP's port 80, accessible only
from the inside. Lots and lots of grateful people from all over
the world had left a message before mine :-)

That's the kind of culture I would like to see encouraged in
other places as well, not this "OMG terrorists" bullshit being
used as an excuse for more and more control in way too many
parts of the world.

Prepaid SIM cards in India ...

[oldspewey]

Of all the countries I've traveled, India is far and away the biggest pain in the ass to get hold of a simple prepaid SIM to stick in your cellphone. Even a little hole-in-the-wall shop wants you to fill out a detailed form, provide identification to be photocopied, provide a valid address while staying in India ... all because they don't want terrorists to be able to use throwaway phones for planning and coordination of attacks.

I'm not at all surprised to see this mindset being extended into other wireless communications

One thing to keep in mind - while America received their "wake up call" in September 2001, there are other nations like India that have been battling terrorism on home soil for several decades. It's worth paying close attention to what these other nations are doing today, if you want clues to what America might be doing tomorrow.

Re:Prepaid SIM cards in India ...

[TheRaven64]

We were battling terrorism in the UK for decades, coming over from Ireland. Most of it was funded by the US. We pretty much ignored it - you'd get a short snipped on the news about it and then back to work. September 2001 was a wake-up call for our government too - they learned from the USA that they could use terrorism as a way of gaining more control over individual lives, rather than it just being a minor irritation.