London's Mayor Promises London-Wide Wireless For 2012 Olympics 130
Pax681 writes "[London Mayor] Boris Johnson declared that London will have all bus stops and lamp posts Wi-Fi enabled by 2012 for the Olympics. In an article on Tech Eye, Boris waxes lyrical (or as lyrical as he can get) about how it would be done at a Google Zeitgeist event in Hertfordshire. These would be public Wi-Fi hotpots; as such, would these break the new law on open access points? Would they be just the thing for people to use to infringe with impunity and anonymously bypass the chances of running foul of the Digital Economy Act?"
Not all officials are bad (Score:3, Insightful)
So, one branch of the government (central) is a bunch of nazi control freaks, and another (local) is reasonable?
But too bad, it's the central one who gets to issue laws, and sadly, in this case it looks like the local initiative will be ruled illegal.
Re:Has Boris thought.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Doesn't stop him being vaguely likable..
Re:Not all officials are bad (Score:3, Insightful)
to be fair, the nazi control freak central government was kicked out at the election we had a fortnight ago. Give the new ones a chance - they'll have their faults for sure, but they won't be quite as control freak as the last lot. More nazi, perhaps.
Re:Has Boris thought.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Laws don't apply to government. "No open access hotspots" unless of course a politician does it.
He is a buffoon, who makes a million pounds (Score:5, Insightful)
Everyone in England thinks he is a buffoon, who still somehow manages to earn a very high salary indeed as an editor, get his government pay and somehow won the election for Major from Ken Livingston (who himself was an outsider, a left wing socialist who ran against his own party candidate when right wing "labour" Tony Blair was still somewhat popular).
Search for "boris hignfy" on youtube, seriously funny stuff. The guy gets away with gaffs that people have torn Bush and Blair apart for. NO journalist even dares to jump on any slight mis pronunciation or botched fact Boris makes. It is BRILLIANT. He has given himself a license to say what he wants to say and not have to worry about weighing every word on a silver platter. Nobody will ruin his career because he "claimed to have invented the internet" or he mixed up the date the US declared independence.
Watch his appearances on the show and then realize he makes more money then you ever will.
Re:Will you have to show an ID to get credentials? (Score:3, Insightful)
I thought open WiFi was illegal in the EU?
Certainly not. There are several cities in EU with city-wide open WiFi, including Oulu in Finland (http://www.panoulu.net/ [panoulu.net]).
Re:Has Boris thought.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Monitoring use (Score:3, Insightful)
Would they be just the thing for people to use to infringe with impunity and anonymously bypass the chances of running foul of the Digital Economy Act?
Not necessarily... there are ways of having public WiFi without letting everyone use it anonymously. Singapore has pretty much full coverage, but to use the public hotspots you need to create an account, and your account has to be tied to a cell phone number (with a confirmation text that you have to respond to). Now I'm sure a clever person could find ways around the system, but it's still just another barrier. I wouldn't be suprised if London did something similar- from TFA:
Not only will this allow people walking the streets to access the wi-fi connections, but it will also allow local homes access too. This will most likely require some sort of payment, however, but may be significantly cheaper than current packages offered through internet service providers.
If it's going to be payment system, then there has to be some sort of personal account that people can create (and the ability to individually monitor people can then be spun as an added bonus).
Re:Has Boris thought.... (Score:3, Insightful)
A bendy bus is something you find in in places like France, where the roads are much wider and can cope with them. In England they might work in places like Milton Keynes or Swindon, but not London.