martinlittle.com:thinkThin

I don't normally respond to these any more, given that so little ever happens, but I've just sent the following to Douglas Freidli, the article's author. We'll see if anything comes back...

Hi Douglas

I saw your article in Scotland on Sunday, and had some questions on the figures and the motive behind the article.

Firstly, I would debate whether there are 152 unique wireless networks in the New Town and West End - sounds like quite a large figure to me, based on my experiences. Secondly, I would love to know how the consultants from Celare were able to tell that these were specifically corporate networks. Simply wardriving does NOT give this information on every nework found - indeed it is highly unlikely to give that information on many, if any, at all. Specifically breaking into those networks would be required, which the consultants say they did not do. Finally, many networks are intentionally left open, so that passing users CAN freely access the attached network, often with the sole intention of sharing Internet bandwidth.

Stories like this have been running for so long now that they are simply boring, offering no new positive information and misleading the public. Without question, security is top priority, however anyone at all who takes a minute to read the blurb enclosed with an wireless access point can quickly decide how much security they want and then set that up. Second guessing the motives of the person or organisation that owns or runs a specific access point is worthless. The story reads as an ad for Celare - and not a very honest one at that.

Why not write a more forward-looking and interesting story on what is happening with Edinburgh WiFi? You could cover the main group of people doing work with freely sharing wireless networks, Backnet (http://www.backnet.org.uk/), the Jolly Judge pub on Lawnmarket which was the first commercial location offering free wireless Internet access in Edinburgh (http://jollyjudge.co.uk/ & http://jollyjudge.co.uk/wifi.htm) as well as how people can get involved - whether that be sharing their own broadband connection or helping set up a community network. Interested people can sign up via http://wifi.meetup.com/ or else contact me directly. If Celare were focussing on wireless security, it would be good to hear what they have to say too.

Hopefully you can answer some of my questions directly, if not, perhaps you can pass this mail on to your contact at Celare - I'd like to hear their reponse to my comments or even see the log of access points they found.

It would be very beneficial, as well as relevant and interesting, to get a good article on the other side of the wireless Internet discussion published and out there, to show good things happen with wireless networks too and raise awareness of what is going on already. Please let me know if I can provide you with any more details at all.

I look forward to hearing from you
Martin

PS Yes, I put my money where my mouth is. This email has come to you via my publicly available wireless access point - see http://martinlittle.com/unwired/ or http://www.nodedb.com/unitedkingdom/sc/edinburgh/view.php?nodeid=5〈=en for more details.