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join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL
1 edit | Any Fines? I wonder if they'll punish people after a number of such incidents. | |
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snolsen
join:2004-01-10
Hanford, CA | Re: Any Fines? So do they have DF equipment to tell where the signal is coming from? | |
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koolman2
Premium
join:2002-10-01
Anchorage, AK
 ·GCI.net
| said by Goober  :I wonder if they'll punish people after a number of such incidents. They can't, as it is currently completely legal to have an open and unsecured wireless network.
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ERROR: CRC failed. Your signature has been lost to Cyberspace. | |
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Goober
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL
·Comcast
·WOW Internet and C..
| Re: Any Fines? said by koolman2 :said by Goober :I wonder if they'll punish people after a number of such incidents. They can't, as it is currently completely legal to have an open and unsecured wireless network. Right. THe operative word being "currently" though. | |
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pleekmo
Triptoe Through The Tulips
Premium
join:2001-09-14
Manchester, CT
clubs:
| Re: Any Fines? said by Goober :said by koolman2 :said by Goober :I wonder if they'll punish people after a number of such incidents. They can't, as it is currently completely legal to have an open and unsecured wireless network. Right. THe operative word being "currently" though. The other operative words are that local jurisdictions may pass laws forbidding any action not procribed by the Constitution of the United States of America or expressly permitted by the Constitution and its Amendments. On the other hand, it appears probable that a local jurisdiction may not have the authority to regulate what may or may not be transmitted by radio (a wireless router is, after all, a transmitter) as such things are generally only regulated by the Federal Communications Commission. On the gripping hand, the FCC could always regulate licensing of such transceivers, which would seem to make (other) regulation of wireless routers even easier. On the fourth hand, even so, enforcement would likely only be the jurisdiction of the FCC.
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HCN: Because you deserve a rest!
Free Omelas! | |
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footballdude
Premium
join:2002-08-13
Imperial, MO
| Re: Any Fines? said by pleekmo :On the gripping hand I know I recognize that but I can't place it. Where's that from? | |
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Fountainhead
Premium
join:2003-10-25
New York, NY
clubs: | If someone wants to sit outside my house and suck off my router, so be it..
My computer is off... Someone might as well use the thing.
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It's all part of my rock and roll fantasy | |
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| | digital k
Premium
join:2003-12-25
| Re: Any Fines? said by Fountainhead :If someone wants to sit outside my house and suck off my router, so be it.. My computer is off... Someone might as well use the thing. Well that is charitable, til the law comes knockin because some sicko sat there and downloaded child porn with your connection, or someone used it to pirate movies, or to do who knows what. | |
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maartena
Stacked.
Premium
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: Any Fines? said by digital k :said by Fountainhead :If someone wants to sit outside my house and suck off my router, so be it.. My computer is off... Someone might as well use the thing. Well that is charitable, til the law comes knockin because some sicko sat there and downloaded child porn with your connection, or someone used it to pirate movies, or to do who knows what. Oh and yes... I forgot child porn. I may as well upload my collection to usenet using your connection. I'm sure you won't mind the authoroties taking possession of your laptop/computer a few weeks later. 
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The Republican Party is a party of BAD ideas. The Democratic Party is a party of NO ideas. Every now and then a Republican stands up in congress and says: "I got a really BAD idea!", to which a Democrat reponds with: "And I can make it shittier!" | |
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maartena
Stacked.
Premium
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA
·RoadRunner Cable
| said by Fountainhead :If someone wants to sit outside my house and suck off my router, so be it.. My computer is off... Someone might as well use the thing. Where do you live? I have a million e-mails to spam and I had my eyes set on hacking a website or two. And do you mind if I leave my laptop running in the car over the weekend, I have a nice phishing site setup to grab eBay password.
You won't mind if it's your IP address they trace all that back to, won't ya? Sure you won't! Just tell me your city, street and cross street, I don't need your exact address, i'll find the wireless router myself. 
Thanks in advance!
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The Republican Party is a party of BAD ideas. The Democratic Party is a party of NO ideas. Every now and then a Republican stands up in congress and says: "I got a really BAD idea!", to which a Democrat reponds with: "And I can make it shittier!" | |
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Fatal Vector
join:2005-11-26
| Re: Any Fines?
You're welcome! And, after they raid me and take my stuff, only to find nothing incriminating, I'll be sure to make a big stink about it to the media and sue their asses off.
I'll let them buy me my wardriver RV. Your tax money at work. | |
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Gfox25
join:2002-07-25
Richmond Hill, NY
1 edit | NOT ME! That's not my wifi. Try the guy next door.
Sir, Your Hotspot is Unsecured
Nope not my wifi.
Sir, Your Hotspot is Unsecured
Nope that's me. | |
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| patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
| Re: NOT ME! said by Gfox25 :That's not my wifi. Try the guy next door. Sir, Your Hotspot is Unsecured Nope not my wifi. Sir, Your Hotspot is Unsecured Nope that's me. Get 1 laptop with 5-10db omni antenna and run netstumbler, drive around. When non-WEP/WPA node hit stop, record location on GPS, then get out and pull out a seperate laptop with a 12-25db Yagi, put shotgun scope on top, lock card to that SSID, then listen to netstumbler noises while aiming the yagi, 2 mins tops to find offending house, or when to drive to more accuratly aim. | |
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Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY | Good Idea If it makes people more aware of this issue it will help. There are so many out there that are clueless in the area.
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The older I get the more I prefer the company of my dogs over that of man kind. | |
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| missileman
join:2006-05-07
Little Rock, AR | Re: Good Idea WRONG!!! I'm sure the citizens are happy the officers are spending their tax money to chase open networks instead of criminals- NOT! | |
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Combat Chuck
Too Many Cannibals
Premium
join:2001-11-29
Erie, PA | Re: Good Idea It's the Sheriff's department, there's only so many next of kin to notify and houses to auction; and sheriffs have a tendency to get involved in shady dealings when they're bored. This will keep them out of trouble.
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gau gau | |
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Fatal Vector
join:2005-11-26 | Re: Good Idea
You mean they're bored with having deputies pose as under age girls on the internet? | |
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Douglas Pawns
@gte.net | Re: Good Idea No, it's just that the RIAA office in Douglas County is closed for the 4 day weekend. So the police can't be their bitch for a few days. | |
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calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA | Re: Good Idea Waddya wanna bet that some broadband provider is behind this, to get more people to buy residential broadband instead of leeching off of their neighbors?
calvoiper
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VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! | |
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| Pictor Guy
join:2004-06-21
Sammamish, WA | There are also people who don't use a firewall either. Should the police come in to inspect your PC to ensure you have some firewall running? | |
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Nerdtalker
Working Hard, Or Hardly Working?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-02-18
Tucson, AZ
clubs:
| Bad idea.
I'd rather see police patrolling the streets and fighting crime than spending all their time making sure joe schmuck's Wi-Fi is secure.
Not only is it not their responsibility, it's a complete waste of tax dollars to preemptively go around and do this. Once, I might've been a proponent of this, but this is wholly un-needed. Some people might ***gasp*** actually not want to be using WEP/WPA.
What's ironic, of course, is that there were an influx of cases and legal battles over "WarDriving," and now a legal entity is going to go out and do it in some crusade for the public good. I find that amusingly ironic.
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"Some people never see the light till it shines thru bullet holes." -Bruce Cockburn
I'm testing Gmail's spam filters: Broadbandreports1@gmail.com
Spam: 12900+ messages currently using 406 MB. | |
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SRFireside
join:2001-01-19
Houston, TX
| Re: Good Idea (No, Bad Idea) I'm sure the cops aren't ignoring other calls when they come just so they can education Joe Neighbor about open access points on their router. It the police want to waste their free time informing people of open APs it's their time. Like Transmaster said some people have no idea and might want to secure their router.
Also think of it this way. They are helping prevent Internet related crimes this way considering many criminals are now wardriving to keep anonymous. A secure AP means you're not potentially facilitating a crime. Also if the police keep some record of the open APs maybe they can do focused searches on criminal wardrivers. | |
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Nerdtalker
Working Hard, Or Hardly Working?
Premium,MVM
join:2003-02-18
Tucson, AZ
clubs:
| Re: Good Idea (No, Bad Idea) The problem, however, lies in that not all cops have the technical know-how to understand this (read: training).
Taking time to put these cops back and train them about the ins and outs of wireless security (and waste tax dollars in the process), is simply worthless.
I also am still confused about how this works out. Leaving your AP open isn't illegal, yet having a cop show up at your house to tell you your AP isn't locked down should be intimidating enough to convince people otherwise.
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"Some people never see the light till it shines thru bullet holes." -Bruce Cockburn
I'm testing Gmail's spam filters: Broadbandreports1@gmail.com
Spam: 12900+ messages currently using 406 MB. | |
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SRFireside
join:2001-01-19
Houston, TX
| Re: Good Idea (No, Bad Idea) They don't need technical know-how to pass a pamphlet around. Besides just about anybody can secure a wireless router with step-by-step instruction. They aren't trying make criminals out of open AP people. They are simply informing you that your broadband connectivity may be wide open. Some people have no problems with that, but some might want to secure. The problem is your average Joe knows almost nothing about that. Enter the police to help out. | |
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Derch
Premium
join:2004-10-16
Tulsa, OK | Umm... How silly! What are the odds of people caring? | |
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Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs:
| Re: Umm... said by Derch :How silly! What are the odds of people caring? And will be complaining that Tax Payers money is funding this silliness. | |
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| | mpolter
join:2006-05-03
Oakland, CA | Re: Umm... You would think that they have better things to do with their time than this... | |
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Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs:
| Re: Umm... said by mpolter :You would think that they have better things to do with their time than this... Exactly. | |
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CrazyMofo0101001
@comcast.net
| No, they obviously don't. They want to keep track history of people to chase after sex offenders.  They of course mean that they need that because they are lazy because wasting valuable time chasing unsecured wifi networks is extremely important. Who cares about putting more cops in the ghetto? "Let them shoot the crap out of each other and sell drugs. We have unsecured networks to chase after."-Police Department. | |
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phattieg
join:2001-04-29
Winter Park, FL
 ·Verizon Wireless B..
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Re: Umm... said by GOLFnSUN :said by Cheese :said by Derch :How silly! What are the odds of people caring? And will be complaining that Tax Payers money is funding this silliness. It is a nice public service, but does bring up the question of allocation of scarce resources. Either Douglas County, CO. has a very low crime rate, or these officers could be put to better use rounding up criminals or patrolling business districts or checking out chop shops; rounding up illegal aliens; etc. It doesn't look like a lot of people know much about signal searching with a wireless nic. All you do is either use a weaker antenna, and walk closer to the source, or even better, a CAN-TENNA! HAHA!
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SIPPhone/Gizmo # 17476200648 / Ran by Asterisk & Slackware 10.1. | |
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TurferJustice
@xo.net
| You ever been to Douglas County, Colorado? Thought not. Try Castle Rock, Colorado. And outlying areas. North of Colorado Springs. These guys are wasting resources. They should be evicting deadbeats and keeping an eye on the jail and prisoners. Issuing Civil summons and evictions. War driving ... great. I doubt there are that many in that county. Try Greely, Arapahoe counties... | |
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Quaoar
join:2004-08-11
Fort Collins, CO
| Re: Umm... Douglas County is, perhaps, the wealthiest county in Colorado, IMO, where the generally up-scale foreign-car-occupied commuters to Denver live. The aether is probably saturated with wireless. Greeley (Weld County)??? I've war driven there and that's where there isn't much since it has become highly Mexicanified and they don't have heavy dependence on el computer. Arapahoe County? Except for those areas abutting the greater Denver metro area, there is nothing but prairie dogs and they don't have computers because they eat them for trace minerals.
But, you are correct: Douglas County has had some problems with actual real, honest-to-God criminals and some Hell-central forest fires.
Q | |
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JohnQPublic
Premium
join:2002-03-22
Xanadu
| Re: Umm... said by Quaoar :Except for those areas abutting the greater Denver metro area, there is nothing but prairie dogs and they don't have computers because they eat them for trace minerals. That's choice. I had one as a pet and he could chew through network cables like a knife through hot butter.
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"[Our enemies] never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." G.W. Bush (8/05/2004) | |
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ross
join:2000-08-16 | Is it really any of their goddamned business? Well, is it? | |
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Persona
Premium
join:2004-07-07
Gravenhurst, ON | LOL If it's like anywhere else...they will be kept very busy taking this on. | |
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Folic
join:2004-10-03
Milwaukee, WI | wtf? This is such a massive waste of resources, i honestly can't believe this. | |
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IanR
join:2001-03-22
Madison, NJ
| So I can check out the Sheriff's wifi? ...purely to check that it's secure and can't be hacked? ANd if I get in w/o a problem I can leave them a warning note also?
Oh wait didn't someone get a criminal charge for doing just that?
I hope the Sheriff and the local DA are in "sync" with this. | |
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jpark
join:2005-02-05
Jackson, TN | Good. The time they waste doing this is time they are not collecting taxes (traffic tickets). | |
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AlexNYC
join:2001-06-02
Edwards, CO |  MAC Filtering
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sabersaw
Premium
join:2001-08-21
Dayton, OH
1 edit | Re: MAC Filtering said by AlexNYC :So how would they know if my WAP is secured by MAC filtering? It will still show as open on their scanners ... they will not know that it is secured by MAC filtering until they actually try to connect and ultimately fail. just the friendly police man, checking doors
step 2. make a local low against open wifi, then revenue up!!!!!! | |
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sivran
Long Live The Suite
Premium
join:2003-09-15
Arlington, TX
clubs: | Because it's not secured by MAC filtering. | |
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sabersaw
Premium
join:2001-08-21
Dayton, OH | Re: MAC Filtering I won't argue the semantics on that one. But what about radius authentication? It shows as open on most of the wifi "scanners". | |
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koolman2
Premium
join:2002-10-01
Anchorage, AK
·GCI.net
| Because MAC filtering isn't a security scheme, the access point is still open to being sniffed, and ultimately your information that you send over the internet is being broadcast around the neighbourhood in the open.
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ERROR: CRC failed. Your signature has been lost to Cyberspace. | |
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pipdipchip
8 Megabits A Second
Premium
join:2003-12-04
Hanover, MN
| Best Time Spent? I have a hard time thinking driving around looking for open Wi-Fi hotspots is the best time spent by a sheriff. "Protect and Serve", not "Find and Notify". Unless no crimes happen in Douglas County, Colorado... than do your real job.
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Webmaster of WRT54G.net - Official Microsoft MVP Longhorn Beta Tester | |
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| LeeWL
join:2002-11-10
Morrisville, NC | Re: Best Time Spent? Well, in many places the Sheriff is just a glorified process server. At least this will get some street level visibility for them. | |
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GameGuy369
join:2004-07-09
Olathe, KS
clubs:
| Circuit City is doing worse... Well, I have found out that a local Circuit City is hiring former Geek Squad guys and having them drive around doing the same thing. Then they knock on the persons door offering to secure it for $100+ dollars. This fact I know to be true.
I do not know if it is true that it is also said that some are planting viruses on computers and then going to the door and then "finding" the virus and offering to fix it for whatever that cost is. Thats just a rumor from the same sources but I can not verify that. | |
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AlexNYC
join:2001-06-02
Edwards, CO
| Re: Circuit City is doing worse... said by GameGuy369 :I do not know if it is true that it is also said that some are planting viruses on computers and then going to the door and then "finding" the virus and offering to fix it for whatever that cost is. Thats just a rumor from the same sources but I can not verify that. Ha ha, that's like the old trick of the glass shop paying the kids to break someone's windows. | |
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Yo Mama
@gte.net | Re: Circuit City is doing worse... Circuit City is a virus. | |
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danny9894
Student
join:2004-03-05
Minneapolis, MN | Re: Circuit City is doing worse... said by Yo Mama :
Circuit City is a virus.
So is Best Buy | |
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BillRoland
Premium
join:2001-01-21
Ocala, FL
clubs: | Barney Fife Don't these clowns have anything better to do? | |
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oliphant
I Have 8 Boobies
Premium
join:2004-11-26
Corona, CA | Wow... ...wished I lived in a town with so little crime that our police had time to waste on stupid crap like this. | |
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| RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
 ·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Wow... I was just thinking the same thing. I guess Douglas County, Colorado has already locked up all the thieves, murderers, rapists, kidnappers, predators and card cheats and needs to find something else to justify their existence.
What a load of crap.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. | |
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OceanaJones
join:2004-10-18
Suffolk, VA | Screw them Its none of their goddamn buidness... I will NOT snitch on my neighbors. Especially when the strong arm of gummit law cums a callin' | |
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knightmb
Everybody Lies
join:2003-12-01
Franklin, TN
·AT&T DSL Service
| Why is everyone being such an *ss about this? Ok, they want to help educate people about leaving an Open AP to the world, what is so bad about this? It's not like they are spending millions on some huge police force to acomplish this. Off the shelf items can track down Open AP are everywhere on the Internet, they are probably looking for the ones with no encryption and "linksys" as the SSID, geez cut them a break 
People don't go to jail, people just get informed, unlike some technician coming up and offering to "secure them" for some $$$ | |
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hopeflicker
Capitalism breeds greed
Premium
join:2003-04-03
Long Beach, CA | Re: Why is everyone being such an *ss about this? There is no way that they can pin point the location. I want to know how this is being done.
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Science will prove that "the creator" does not exist. | |
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Unregistered User
@69.244.x.x
| Re: Why is everyone being such an *ss about this? Easy. They don't have to know exactly where the signal is coming from. Figuring that out will take too much time. All they have to do is find an open hotspot, then take a few flyers and put them on doors around that area. The flyer could say something like, "Do you own a wireless router? If so, you should secure it. Here's how." Odds are, they'll put one on the door of the router's owner. As for the rest, well, those people will get a little education for when they decide to buy one.
So long as there's no legal reprocussions, I don't see a problem, provided this doesn't take time away from their job of solving crimes. IMHO, these flyers should be put in the boxes with the routers when they're packaged for sale. | |
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| | RayW
Premium
join:2001-09-01
Layton, UT
clubs:
·XMission
| Re: Why is everyone being stupid about this? (modified title) said by hopeflicker :There is no way that they can pin point the location. I want to know how this is being done. We do transmitter hunts for fun, a radio hobby called fox hunting. Sometimes we have to find the one signal among several on the same frequency and follow it to the correct transmitter which can be disguised as a rock, branch, trash, or hidden in a tree, etc. Also the signal may not be constant but on for a few seconds and off for a minute.
Finding and identifying a hotspot at the house level instead of within a foot or two will be a piece of cake. Now an apartment complex might be a tad trickier, especially the multi story block style.
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I am not lost, I find myself every time. | |
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hopeflicker
Capitalism breeds greed
Premium
join:2003-04-03
Long Beach, CA | Re: Why is everyone being stupid about this? (modified title) I see, so there are devices that can "truly sniff" a location.
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Science will prove that "the creator" does not exist. | |
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| | | | RayW
Premium
join:2001-09-01
Layton, UT
clubs: | Re: Why is everyone being stupid about this? (modified title) My 13 year old daughter does it with a simple hand held radio and a few tricks, or you can spend a few thousand dollars and get an automated system.
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I am not lost, I find myself every time. | |
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Titus Pullo
I came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26
·Embarq
| War on terror war on drugs
war on obscenity
war on unsecured hotspots
war on [target of impossibility here]
What we need is a war on idiocy: we can't win it, just as all the other 'wars', but even one less moron naming wars on 'things' is more than welcome
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"I am not young enough to know everything."
Oscar Wilde | |
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Yippz Voip
join:2005-05-04
Atlanta, GA
| And Now The 11 O'Clock News From Douglas County, CO Today in Douglas county, 3 banks were robbed, 2 gas stations were held up and 911 operators reported that 11 domestic disturbance went unanswered for over 7 hours.
However, the streets are safe from rouge unsecured wireless networks, thanks to the Douglas County Sherrif's Dept... Good work boys!!
Geez... What next -- they'll be checking to see if you're storing poisonous chemicals in child-proof containers if there's a toddler within 4 blocks of your home?!? Umm.. Excuse me maam... Can we check under your kitchen sink?!? Why? Police business... | |
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M 2 S
@bellsouth.net
| Re: And Now The 11 O'Clock News From Douglas County, CO lol.... You guys are funny. You seem to think that the entire Sheriff's Dept. is out there looking for unsecured hotspots. I'm relatively sure that they probably have one guy out there doing this. It's just a community relations thing. The sheriff is an elected official and elections aren't too far off. | |
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GadgetsRme
R.I.P. dadkins
Premium
join:2002-01-30
Canon City, CO
2 edits | Police Visisblity In Denver the police dept has started what is known as broken windows policing. What that does is go after even the minor crimes aggressively so as to increase police visibility. The areas that have started this program have already seen a downturn in major crimes as well as cleaning up a lot of the minor nuisances around the neighborhood. Douglas county is quite upscale and not too much in the way of broken windows. However if during their patrols they are making the rounds of the neighborhoods they patrol and stop to make delivery of the info on wireless security, their visibility increases and hopefully deters other crimes because of their presence. I'd like a cop stopping on my street every so often just to discourage some of the crap that goes on. Our neighborhood is next in line in Denver to start the program. Their calls and other things come first, but if they have a free 15 minutes I'd rather they be cleaning up minor stuff aggressively than going to the coffee shop, district station or just parking somewhere to save gas.
Edit: spelling
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Gadgets | |
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Sir, Your Hotspot is Unsecured
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