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May 17, 2006
Westchester Slaps Warning Label on Wi-Fi
(Wireless Week Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)A new law in upstate New York could be a harbinger of new regulations for wireless broadband access providers or it could be a set of rules and concerns that carriers and users already meet.
The new rules, passed in April and set to become effective this October, would make local businesses providing broadband wireless access in Westchester County, N.Y., install basic firewall technology for their customers' protection and post signs where the network is available, warning consumers about the possible danger using a wireless network poses to computer users. The law would apply to networks that store customer credit card information and businesses that have Internet-related revenue above $300 per year that provide the networks, says Scott Fernqvist, special assistant to the county's chief information officer. The revenue threshold is to avoid making home owners with in-home Wi-Fi networks comply, he explains.
The law is aimed at protecting users from skyrocketing identity and electronic information theft, he says. The law is the first of its kind, according to Fernqvist and other county officials who note that they have received inquiries from cities across the globe from South Korea to Great Britain to Czechoslovakia.
Westchester County drew up the rules primarily with retailer-supplied Wi-Fi networks, such as those supplied by hotels and coffee shops, in mind, Fernqvist says. Their use and increasing identity and information theft make for a possibly dangerous combination, according to the law. The county's board cited New York Times
research that said 14 percent of Wi-Fi users have logged on to a neighbor's network in the past year, and 30 percent are worried about their neighbors getting on to their networks.
However, the law's language uses the terms "wireless broadband network" and "Wi-Fi" almost interchangeably. The intent, says Fernqvist, is to allow some room to expand the law's applicability to other kinds of emerging wireless broadband, including WiMAX.
Overkill?
For all its good intentions, the law's effectiveness and necessity could be overstated, say analysts and network providers.
While the differences between licensed and unlicensed spectrum are well-known in the wireless industry, they might not be as apparent to cities making the laws. Big wireless carriers that provide other types of broadband access, such as EV-DO and other 3G services, currently aren't concerned with the law. "Wi-Fi is unlicensed spectrum. We use licensed spectrum to provide broadband services like EV-DO," says Debbie Lewis, Verizon Wireless spokeswoman, noting that increased security is an advantage for licensed spectrum.
Companies for which the law applies don't directly criticize the measure, but note that they've already been doing much of what it requires and say that they haven't seen any other local legislation quite like the county's law.
"We have not been made aware of similar legislation in the U.S. Regardless, T-Mobile HotSpot currently has controls in place (e.g., firewalls) that manage Internet traffic and mitigate Internet-related vulnerabilities," says Kyle Warnick, spokesman for T-Mobile HotSpot, which provides the Wi-Fi service that powers Starbucks Coffee's Wi-Fi access networks. A Starbucks spokeswoman referred questions concerning the law to T-Mobile.
Ultimately, the law might cause some mom-and-pop Wi-Fi hot spot providers to dig a little deeper into their pockets for firewall technologies and make them post a few signs that warn about the problems users might have if they don't try to protect themselves, says Roger Entner, vice president, wireless telecom at Ovum. Nevertheless, people are already aware that they need firewalls and could be exposing themselves to ID theft when they use a public Wi-Fi network. Although the mandate could increase prices a bit for a group of Wi-Fi providers, Enter says it's "the equivalent of a sticker that warns you about the dangers of your microwave" something that most people already understand.
(source: http://ipcommunications.tmcnet.com/news/2006/may/162810.htm)
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