I have to strongly disagree with you that wireless communication is just as secure as copper or fiber. Somebody on a land line can easily be physically disconnected from the network. You absolutely can not prohibit someone with a scanner from eavsedropping on wireless communications. If we open this up to just about anybody with a transmitter there will be serious problems. At least with large ISP's controlling the flow there is always somebody with a fair amount of knowledge who can offer some protection to those who just need the communications but don't have the knowledge of security to protect themselves.
The only reason HAM is fairly orderly now is because of the steep learning curve to use. It locks out those who might cause problems, either intentionally or accidentally. If wireless is available to the masses without decent liscensing requirements then that barrier to entry is removed and all hell will break loose. This is what happened with the net & AOL, if you remember.
Some means of communications, like wireless, are simply too dangerous to be opened up to the public at large.
But what you'll notice in areas like Miami is that because of piracy the legitimate stations are forced to boost their power to overcome the interference. Then instead of having 24 hr. Desi Arnaz at 98.1 you get him bleeding from 97.3-98.7. The pirates then try to cut through the bleeding, other stations complain about picking up The Mambo King in Atlanta, and the whole thing just turns into a ridiculous mess.
And your point about HAM packet transfer just proves my point. The group who is doing the most with this is l0pht, and who are they? That's right, a bunch of hackers with very questionable morals and motivations.
Thanks but no thanks. I'll take a little government regulation here any day.
The problem with keeping wireless free to the masses is limited spectrum space. Thankfully the gov't in the US realized how problematic this could be many years ago and created the FCC to regulate the airwaves.
The net as it is now is virtually unlimited in growth potential, and we can lay as much fiber as we want without interfering with each other's communications. This is not the case with wireless, as evidenced by all the problems radio piracy causes.
Imagine if the wireless data spectrum were being polluted in much the same way that AM & FM bands are these days. Dropped connections, interference, and eavesdropping would be so rampant that nothing useful would ever come of your wireless gadgets. Instead of reading your email you might unexpectedly have a kiddie porn image pop up on your PDA. Instead of that report going to your boss it might end up in the hands of some 15 year old wireless hacker who will send it to your competition.
So if any of you are thinking about advocating opening up the airwaves to the public, I advise you to seriously consider the consequences first. Maybe having most of the spectrum allocated to large, pre-existing corporations isn't the best in the interest of freedom, but the anarchy of having a handful of geeky HAM dweebs trashing our data communications is simply something to be avoided at all costs!
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I have to strongly disagree with you that wireless communication is just as secure as copper or fiber. Somebody on a land line can easily be physically disconnected from the network. You absolutely can not prohibit someone with a scanner from eavsedropping on wireless communications. If we open this up to just about anybody with a transmitter there will be serious problems. At least with large ISP's controlling the flow there is always somebody with a fair amount of knowledge who can offer some protection to those who just need the communications but don't have the knowledge of security to protect themselves.
The only reason HAM is fairly orderly now is because of the steep learning curve to use. It locks out those who might cause problems, either intentionally or accidentally. If wireless is available to the masses without decent liscensing requirements then that barrier to entry is removed and all hell will break loose. This is what happened with the net & AOL, if you remember.
Some means of communications, like wireless, are simply too dangerous to be opened up to the public at large.
But what you'll notice in areas like Miami is that because of piracy the legitimate stations are forced to boost their power to overcome the interference. Then instead of having 24 hr. Desi Arnaz at 98.1 you get him bleeding from 97.3-98.7. The pirates then try to cut through the bleeding, other stations complain about picking up The Mambo King in Atlanta, and the whole thing just turns into a ridiculous mess.
And your point about HAM packet transfer just proves my point. The group who is doing the most with this is l0pht, and who are they? That's right, a bunch of hackers with very questionable morals and motivations.
Thanks but no thanks. I'll take a little government regulation here any day.
The problem with keeping wireless free to the masses is limited spectrum space. Thankfully the gov't in the US realized how problematic this could be many years ago and created the FCC to regulate the airwaves.
The net as it is now is virtually unlimited in growth potential, and we can lay as much fiber as we want without interfering with each other's communications. This is not the case with wireless, as evidenced by all the problems radio piracy causes.
Imagine if the wireless data spectrum were being polluted in much the same way that AM & FM bands are these days. Dropped connections, interference, and eavesdropping would be so rampant that nothing useful would ever come of your wireless gadgets. Instead of reading your email you might unexpectedly have a kiddie porn image pop up on your PDA. Instead of that report going to your boss it might end up in the hands of some 15 year old wireless hacker who will send it to your competition.
So if any of you are thinking about advocating opening up the airwaves to the public, I advise you to seriously consider the consequences first. Maybe having most of the spectrum allocated to large, pre-existing corporations isn't the best in the interest of freedom, but the anarchy of having a handful of geeky HAM dweebs trashing our data communications is simply something to be avoided at all costs!