Can open Wi-Fi network be used as child porn defense? A Texas appeals court upheld a search warrant that was issued when an instant message with child porn was tied to an account used from an IP address that corresponded to a particular subscriber's address. CDs with child pornography were found in the area of the house used by the subscriber, although he had other housemates. While the subscriber pled guilty, he appealed the legality of the search warrant, because his open Wi-Fi network would allow people outside the home to use the network for access, leading to what was argued as insufficient cause for a physical search. The higher court disagreed.
Santa Monica considers Wi-Fi: The beachfront town (home of Boingo Wireless) would partner with Azulstar, which is currently in testing with the city. Slower-speed service would be free but ad-supported; higher speeds for a fee. The city is 8.3 sq mi.
IRS wireless flaws exposed: The IRS still has unauthorized wireless networking equipment attached that could lead to exploits, says the inspector general of the service despite an earlier test revealing the same problem. Smart enterprises require 802.1X or other authentication that prevents an Ethernet port from being used without appropriate credentials. Less intelligent networks allow any device to attach itself via Ethernet.
Rural school bus to get Wi-Fi: A round-trip commute of up to three hours to school could be supplemented with Internet access for educational purposes via the Aspirnaut Initiative in Sheridan, Ark. "High ability" middle school and high school students would receive computers and ride a specially equipped bus. Perhaps Nintendo could sponsor it.
Highway hotspots at Total gas stations in the Netherlands: KPN will install outdoor hotspots at gas stations with marked parking places showing availability.
Oxford commuter shuttle to get free Wi-Fi: The Oxford Tube comprises 25 vehicles, running 24 hours a day, shuttling between London and Oxford. A successful trial is leading to a full deployment. Moovera Networks operates the free service using Vodafone UK's cellular network.
Discussion of Apple's support of IPv6 tunneling in their AirPort Extreme Base Station with 802.11n: The summary is that enabling IPv6 tunneling by default leads to a backdoor into IPv6 enabled networks, which would include a network of Mac OS X systems and an Extreme N base station. That said, turning off incoming IPv6 connections disables all IPv6 functionality, which will have increasing importance. The "pinholing" discussion sounds a lot like port mapping and punchthrough, which I had hope we'd get away from with IPv6.
LA's Little Tokyo gets free Wi-Fi: A joint project of several agencies, it's a pilot project with a community site as part of it.