RE: WIRELESS THEFT

[Jason Kohles <jkohles () redhat com>]

On Sat, 2002-10-19 at 12:00, David () cawdgw net wrote:

> You use a police scanner to listen to emergency frequencies, and that's okay
> (As long as you aren't using that information to commit a crime)
There are other restrictions as well, in many areas mobile use of police
scanners is illegal, even if you are not committing any crime other than
mobile use of scanners.

> But you are not allowed to transmit on that frequency. It's reserved. The
> severity of the penalty would directly relate to how you transmitted.
> Accidental use of the frequency would be a hand slap or minor fine.
> Intentional broadcasting, especially broadcasting in such a way as to
> impersonate emergency personnel would be much harsher.
That's not a very good analogy, you are not allowed to transmit on those
frequencies because they are regulated by the FCC.  In contrast, the 2.4
ghz frequency used by 802.11b is unregulated, anybody can transmit
there.

> So, accidentally trying to log on your wireless net and hitting theirs would
> be an accident. Trying to brut force a logon password, or spoofing an
> allowed MAC address would be intentional impersonation. They throw the book
> at you.
This is true, but not related to your analogy.

-- 
Jason Kohles                                 jkohles () redhat com
Senior Engineer                 Red Hat Professional Consulting