[wplug] On the subject of wardriving...

[Drew from Zhrodague]

> Wardriving is _not_ turning on your laptop and noticing that SSIDs are
> being broadcast in your vicinity.  It is investigating those SSIDs to see
> which ones are not secured and making note of that information.

	Uh, not quite -- it's not just the unsecured ones, but locating 
ALL of the access points, in your vicinity. The driving part makes the 
vicinity larger.

	Where did you get the idea that wardriving targets only unsecured 
nets?


> If it were only noticing, then it wouldn't be any more illegal than noticing
> that someone left their door unlocked ... but as soon as you open that door,
> you step in to uncertain legal territory.  Even if you don't go in, or
> do any damage ... the fact that you opened the door puts you in a
> questionable position.  If you don't do any damage, or cause any $$$ loss,
> you'll probably get away with it, but the point is that you've crossed
> (or are standing on) the line.

	Hm. I was avoiding the use of this kind of illustration, but if 
you insist:

	Imagine standing atop your house, and screaming with a bullhorn 
about the existance of your AP. Now here comes Drew the Wardriver. I hear 
your screaming, and write down the location. This is wardriving.

	There are no doors opened, and no locks tested.


> If you want to continually redefine what the term "wardriving" means, you're
> going to miss the point entirely, so lets stop using that term (since we
> can't seem to agree on what it means.)

	My excessive comments in *this* list, on TV, on the radio, and in
the newspapers, magazines, and books, are about dispelling the
misinformation heaped upon the masses by uninformed journalists, who liken
El Neat-o technologies (like Wi-Fi, P2P, etc) to the illicit hobbies of
evildoers. I also discuss the benefits of wardriving, and the outcomes of
related technologies, like Wi-Fi density, location-awareness in software,
GIS, and pretty visualizations.


> The simple fact is that using somebody's network in a manner that you are
> not authorized to do is a criminal offense according to current PA state
> law.  Exactly where you've crossed the line into "use" is up to the
> lawyers to decide.

	Wardriving does not involve "use" of any networks -- at all.


> "breaking in" has yet to be defined as well.
> 
> If I put a stack of $20 bills behind a locked glass door in plain view, and
> you break the glass to take it, is that theft?
> If I put the same stack of $20 bills behind an unlocked glass door in plain
> view and you open the door and take them, is that theft?
> If I put the same stack on my property, but in plain view with absolutely
> no deterrent, and you take them, is that theft?
> If I put the same stack on public property with no deterrent and you take
> them, is that theft?
> 
> And which one of those circumstances is closest to using someones unsecured
> wireless network without their permission?

	Wardriving does not involve use of any networks at all.

	If I have my stereo in my house up really loud, and you walk by 
and hear it, are you stealing from me?


-- 

Drew from Zhrodague		http://www.WiFiMaps.com
drew at zhrodague.net		Location Based WiFi