[ale] heads up - warning - you could be sharing comcast wifi without knowing it

[Michael H. Warfield]

On Tue, 2013-06-11 at 18:45 -0700, David Tomaschik wrote: 
> On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 5:17 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE)
> <atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com> wrote:
> > Hi guys,
> >
> > I thought you'd like to know about this.  I heard the host on the Tech News
> > Today podcast ( http://twit.tv/tnt ) say something similar to the following:
> > Comcast will be expanding its wifi network by putting wifi gateways in
> > Xfinity users homes. ... Comcast users will get free access. ... Guests get
> > two free accesses. ... If you don't want to participate, you have to opt
> > out.

> <snip>

> > Supposedly, they replace your cable modem with this new wifi gateway device.
> > It broadcasts two wifi signals.  You log into one of them and use YOUR
> > service as normal.  Guests login into the other, for free if they are
> > Comcast Xfinity customers, and get two free accesses if they're not Xfinity
> > customers.  SUPPOSEDLY, the 2nd connection is independent of the main one,
> > and it doesn't reduce your bandwidth.  Yeah, I believe that.  The APPARENT
> > plan is to replace all the gateways and enable this internet sharing without
> > the customer's knowledge.  That's got to be against the law somehow.

> Don't see how it would be against the law.  They're going to replace a
> device they own connected to a service they own with another device
> they own connected to a service they own?

I can and it's very fundamental and could easily lead to a class action
lawsuit.  It has nothing do to with bandwidth or isolation (though
isolation is a serious issue and impossible to solve if a single device
is providing this split service).  No.  It's not what people have
already brought up.  It's much worse.

The problem is using my (your) residential property for commercial
purposes (providing a service to their customers) without your written
permission and agreement on a contract with appropriate remuneration.
This is not trivial.  It's using your facilities as a colo site for
their wireless facilities without your agreement.  Seriously?  That
sounds as much like "theft through taking" as is 90% of the IP lawsuits
in the courts right now.

> > Now, I know some people willingly share their wifi.  I'm not one of them.  I
> > have my wfi encrypted with long ugly passwords.  There are 3 main reasons.
> > 1) Any other user on my modem is a potential security risk.

If I do something of this sort on my own, it's one thing.  It's my
property and I do what I like from it.  If they do it, using my (real
estate) property, for their commercial (whether they are paid for it or
not) competitive advantage without my written and SIGNED consent on a
contract, that's got to be illegal in many jurisdictions.

<Snip>

Regards,
Mike
-- 
Michael H. Warfield (AI4NB) | (770) 985-6132 |  mhw at WittsEnd.com
   /\/\|=mhw=|\/\/          | (678) 463-0932 |  http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/
   NIC whois: MHW9          | An optimist believes we live in the best of all
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