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recent ruling: eu open hotspots

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finite9

Regular Contributor
Has anyone started password protecting their open hotspots since the recent eu case that ruled that the router owner was not responsible for others activities on his router, but that from now on, open hotspots need to be password protected?

I use OpenWireless.org's rules for maintaining an open hotspot, and dont know how this ruling now affects me.
 
As far as I understand, this only applies in case the relevant authority - following a complaint from the copyright holder - requires you to do so.

the Court holds that an injunction ordering the internet connection to be secured by means of a password is capable of ensuring a balance between, on the one hand, the intellectual property rights of rightholders and, on the other hand, the freedom to conduct a business of access providers and the freedom of information of the network users.
This is also clear by the fact that the ECJ stated that Directive 2000/31/EC:

exempts intermediate providers of mere conduit services from liability for unlawful acts committed by a third party with respect to the information transmitted. That exemption of liability takes effect provided that three cumulative conditions are satisfied: (i) the provider of the mere conduit service must not have initiated the transmission; (ii) it must not have selected the recipient of the transmission; and (iii) it must neither have selected nor modified the information contained in the transmission.
As you can see, the Court (better, the Directive) does not forbid maintaining an open-hotspot.

giopas

EDIT: of course we should wait for the publication of the full text of the Court rule.
 
It's getting a bit of attention these days - Open and Unregulated WIFI...

Not just for copyright issues, but in some locations, the sensitivity about other actions is likely driving this policy ask in light of recent activities where bad actors have taken advantage of open WiFi to do harm to others as an expression of political or religious ideals...

It's a complicated issue, but the guidance about protecting WiFi access - whether it's an Encrypted SSID, or a Captive Portal for users to register makes sense in some regions.
 
I agree with you, sfx2000, even if in case someone wants to use open WiFi for let's say, terrorism or hacking purposes, he certainly will also use end to end encryption and probably VPN, therefore where the connection is physically established is not the problem.

In any case, this matter is not relevant for the ECJ case, which only relates to copyright issues.

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