A.K.M. Adam: Ordained Priest, Academic...and Potential Felon?

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Liz Ditz <ponytrax () batnet com>
Date: August 23, 2004 3:01:12 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: A.K.M. Adam: Ordained Priest, Academic...and Potential Felon?

(for IP if you wish)

A. K. M. Adam is on vacation in Nantucket.  While there, he is accosted 
by a policeman who does not wish him to use WiFi.

http://akma.disseminary.org/archives/001518.html

So Weirdly Wrong

A few minutes ago, a police officer passed the bench where I was 
sitting outside the [edit: Nantucket] Athenaeum, enjoying the mild 
temperature and the wifi signal, and he said, “Sir, you can’t use the 
Internet outside the library.”

I said, “What?” (I’m pretty clever under pressure.)

The officer in question (whose conduct was entirely professional, firm, 
and calm behind those mirrored shades) solemnly assured me that in 
order to use the library’s open wireless signal, I had to be seated 
within the library. The officer then wandered on back to the nearby 
police station.

I dutifully, if reluctantly, turned off the power to my Airport card 
and, since I had only been on the bench a few minutes, began working — 
offline — on what turns out to be this post. I had noticed two other 
weak but open signals in the area, and I figured that I could post this 
perplexing moment via one of the other open signals, then scuttle back 
to the studio. As I was writing, the officer returned and — as the 
officer walked straight for me — I held up my TiBook, pointing to the 
zero lines in the Airport icon, and showed the officer that my card was 
off.

 “Why don’t you just close that up, sir, or use your computer 
elsewhere?’

I closed the computer in order not to constitute a threat to 
established order, but engaged this peace officer in a discussion of 
the complexities of the topic. “I did notice several other open signals 
in the area — am I allowed to connect to them?”

“Maybe if you had permission it would be all right, but it’s a new law, 
sir; ‘theft of signal.’ It would be like if you stole someone’s cable 
TV connection.”

I responded, “But this is a radio signal thing — it’s not like a cable 
connection, it’s like someone has a porch light on and I’m sitting on 
the bench, reading a book by their light. I’m not stealing their 
light.”

“It’s a law, sir; if someone comes along and downloads child 
photography (that wasn’t the exact word the officer used) and it goes 
through their [sc., the access point owner’s] connection, that’s a 
violation and we’ve had cases of that. That’s a felony.”

(I skip the question of whether it’s less a problem if someone 
downloads such photos while sitting in the library. Since I’ve already 
been categorized, however politely, with felons, I thought discretion 
should prevail at this point.) “Is this a state law?” I asked.

“It’s a federal law, sir; a Secret Service agent came and explained it 
to us.”

“Look, I don’t want to give you a hard time, and I’m very thankful that 
you alerted me to this, and I’ve done what you asked, but I’d be very 
surprised if there turned out to be a federal law forbidding my using 
an open wireless signal in a public place.”

“Well, you can look it up, sir, and explain it to the chief. . . .”

At this point, it became clear that my uniformed interlocutor had to 
head in a different direction from me, so we shook hands and parted. 
And I walked back to the studio, dumbfounded that someone just rousted 
me for picking an open wireless signal in public — indeed (as it turns 
out) for using a laptop within a wireless signal’s range of the 
library. Weird.

posted from a secure hiding place near an open access point. . .

**********
Liz Ditz
650-303-5967

blog: http://lizditz.typepad.com

Success: fall down seven times, stand up eight.

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