Pawelk198604 Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 What do you think about it, the authorities of my country (Poland) want to punish people for not securing the password of the WIFI network? Such a ban already exists in our larger and more prosperous neighbor, i.e. Germany, where there is a penalty of up to 100 euros in fine for lack of password protection for the WIFI network. Now Poland wants to introduce a similar solution, apparently similar law is also in France and Great Britain. Apparently, the argument for this is that unauthorized persons can connect to someone's private WIFI network, which can already be considered a criminal offense. Apparently, the point is that such leeches can use someone's private WiFi to download copyrighted material, as well as by perverts hurting children and / or terrorists. In my opinion, governments around the world are using marketing tricks like "Think of poor children" or scary alleged "terrorists" They want to do as if someone had committed a computer crime with the help of someone unsecured WIFI, the owner could be punished "for complicity in crime through negligence" :-) I secure my WIFI, but I think that governments around the world are getting too much into the private affairs of their citizens, they are playing micro-management too much, and that liquides people off! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superfluous J Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 I'm pretty sure it's not to keep some guy from parking outside your house and downloading illegal stuff. It's to keep you from saying "Hey my Wifi's not secured it was probably some guy parked outside my house who downloaded all that illegal stuff." Essentially it's easier to prosecute someone if they don't have an alibi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawelk198604 Posted October 21, 2019 Author Share Posted October 21, 2019 1 minute ago, 5thHorseman said: I'm pretty sure it's not to keep some guy from parking outside your house and downloading illegal stuff. It's to keep you from saying "Hey my Wifi's not secured it was probably some guy parked outside my house who downloaded all that illegal stuff." Essentially it's easier to prosecute someone if they don't have an alibi. What do you means? Not protecting WIFI is plain stupid IMHO but it's should be not State business! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micha Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 32 minutes ago, Pawelk198604 said: What do you means? Not protecting WIFI is plain stupid IMHO but it's should be not State business! What he means is that the State would like you to be responsible for anything that happened on your network. Ie, say you have unsecured wifi and you pirate some piece of software, or hack into a bank, or any one of a hundred other illegal activities. If the police then knocks on your door and says hey, you're nicked for doing xyz, you can just say, wasn't me, guv, musta been a neighbour or someone using my wifi. Basically you can easily disown responsibility for any actions done via your network to persons unknown. Whereas if you have secured wifi, the assumption is that nobody can break into it which means they can prosecute you (or someone you gave the password to) for doing xyz. Which is, of course, fallacious, since no technology is ever foolproof and an attacker could link into your network in other ways. It just shuts the easiest and most obvious hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_v Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 2 hours ago, Pawelk198604 said: What do you think about it, the authorities of my country (Poland) want to punish people for not securing the password of the WIFI network? I think it's utterly retarded. I've had an open AP on my roof for over a decade. I also run a TOR exit node. Secured WiFi isn't as secure as many believe it to be anyway, if someone wants free internet enough they will find it. This sounds like yet another stupid idea dreamed up by a politician with a severe lack of technical knowledge, just like the drive to backdoor encrypted communications or age-check pron users. It's all doomed to ineffectiveness and impossible to enforce. 2 hours ago, Pawelk198604 said: Not protecting WIFI is plain stupid IMHO That all depends on why you're doing it, and what other protections you have in place. 2 hours ago, 5thHorseman said: It's to keep you from saying "Hey my Wifi's not secured it was probably some guy parked outside my house who downloaded all that illegal stuff." Of course it is. Probably being pushed by the RIAA or local equivalent, as usual. 2 hours ago, micha said: no technology is ever foolproof and an attacker could link into your network in other ways. It just shuts the easiest and most obvious hole. Indeed, though it's more akin to blocking one hole in a sieve IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superfluous J Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 2 hours ago, Pawelk198604 said: Not protecting WIFI is plain stupid IMHO but it's should be not State business! I agree with you on both. I'm just explaining their outlook which frankly is a lot more reasonable than "think of the childrens!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YNM Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Yeah, I guess it has more to do with "we're not responsible if you're not responsible" thing. If something illegal happens in an unsecured link then honestly they couldn't do a thing - but now if an unsecured link is there then honestly now there's just all reasons for them to think it wasn't very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micha Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Oh, and as to what I think about it? Bloody stupid, of course. There's lots of things governments can and should be doing. But forcing us to put passwords on our Wifi is not one of them. As far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong) there's not even a law requiring you to put locks on your doors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dman979 Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 Sorry guys, but discussing government actions that are completely unrelated to spaceflight is an inherently political topic. Thread locked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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