Singapore - Wi-Fi Prosecutions Misguided

I have been watching with growing concern the prosecution of individuals in Singapore for Wi-Fi theft. The whole premise for such a prosecution is misguided, and shows a lack of understanding of the underlying technology and the regulatory framework under which it was launched. Wi-Fi is a standard for data transmission over unlicensed radio spectrum. The rules governing this usage were set in the U.S. by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). As the protocol and equipment gained popularity, demand forced other governments to allow the same usage. The key here is that the radio spectrum being used is unlicensed. Like CB radios in the 70' and 80's, anyone is allowed to transmit and receive on this spectrum. There are no offers of privacy or private property, this is public spectrum. Once Wi-Fi became widely available, people quickly realised that their data was at risk if they transmitted without some sort of encryption. Equipment manufacturers, not governments, responded by offering first WEP (Wireless Equivalency Privacy), then stronger forms of encryption when WEP was shown to be hackable. Wi-Fi transmitters are designed to broadcast their availability, and for Wi-Fi receivers to search for all available networks. Any modern laptop will automatically list all available networks that can be "seen". In my own flat, I can see at least 12 networks, at least half of which are not encrypted. There has been an analogy proposed that tries to equate Wi-Fi mooching with physical entry to someone's house. "Just because I leave my door unlocked, does not mean you are free to enter". This analogy is completely wrong. Wi-Fi is designed to send a welcome message to anyone operating with Wi-Fi compliant hardware. The proper analogy is "You are welcome to come into my house unless the door is locked" In this case, silence, or inaction, on the part of the network owner is consent. The real culprit in this sad state of affairs is the person who attaches a Wi-Fi transmitter to his home wired network, and knowingly fails to turn on basic encryption. Such individuals are breaking the terms of their ISP agreements which prevent further distribution or access by individuals other than the subscriber. Stop ruining the lives of children by giving them inappropriate criminal records, and start going after the real problem, those who are too lazy to use equipment properly.

Social Networking by Cellphone

More Companies Roll Out GPS Services That Locate Your Friends -- Or Your Kids By JESSICA E. VASCELLARO January 16, 2007; Page B1

John Peattie was worried that some of his friends would be late for a 7:30 p.m. movie so he turned to his cellphone to track their whereabouts.

With one click, the 22-year-old chemical engineer pulled up an electronic map of the San Francisco area with his friends' locations pinpointed. From the map, he could tell that some were as much as 45 minutes away. "We basically knew they weren't going to make it," he said.

The new buddy-tracking tool is from Loopt Inc. and is available from wireless operator Boost Mobile, owned by Sprint Nextel Corp., Reston, Va. Loopt is one of a host of companies putting a fresh spin on social-networking services by adding in a new element: phones equipped with Global Positioning System receivers. GPS is used to determine an object's location based on how long it takes for a signal to reach the object from satellites. Loopt alone has roughly 100,000 users since it kicked off last fall. [Cellphone]

Many young people are obsessed with two things: social networking and their mobile phones. Companies have been trying to cash in on combining them, but up until now, nobody has found an approach that has really caught on. News Corp.'s MySpace and Facebook Inc. recently launched offerings that help people connect to their Web sites from their phones but the services don't allow users to do much more than they could do online.

Now, GPS technology is adding a new dimension to wireless social-networking services, letting cellphone users find each others' locations -- just as GPS-equipped phones are becoming more prevalent, partly in response to federal rules that require carriers to make it easier for emergency officials to locate cellphone users. An estimated 63% of mobile phones sold in North America in 2007 will have GPS or assisted GPS functions, up from 55% of phones sold in 2006, according to market researcher Gartner Research.

"The race is just beginning in this area," says Clint Wheelock, vice president of research for ABI Research.

Indeed, Sprint Nextel has launched "Family Locator," a $9.99-a-month service that lets users track the locations of family members -- or at least their cellphones. (The company is marketing the service as a way to provide "peace of mind" for parents.) And a host of start-up businesses and wireless companies, including Helio, jointly owned by South Korea's SK Telecom Co. and EarthLink Inc., of Atlanta, are turning to the technology to tap the social-networking trend, helping users find their friends on the screen using a combination of GPS technology and cell-tower triangulation.

GPS-equipped services like Loopt that help users find their friends' mobile phones generally work anywhere in the U.S. and can zoom in to show a city or zoom out to show the country. For now, the appeal of the services seems largely limited to urban areas or college campuses -- places where users are more likely to meet up with friends on the fly.

Services that broadcast a user's location to other people do raise some serious privacy and security questions. A number of parents and privacy advocates worry that some people could sign up for, or hack into, the new services and employ them to stalk users. FRIEND SPOTTING • The News: Wireless providers launch services that help customers find friends' locations in near-real time. • The Background: It is happening due to the spread of GPS-equipped phones. • What's Next: To succeed, services must ward off privacy concerns and strike deals with more carriers.

Some privacy advocates also are worried that the government could use location information to spy on people. "Accurate location information can reveal many things about people's lifestyle they may wish to keep quiet," says Kevin Bankston, a lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy-rights group based in San Francisco. "And young people may be likely to freely advertise their location without considering the implications."

"Location services do raise some special privacy concerns," says Jeffrey Nelson, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless, which is jointly owned by Verizon Communications Inc. of New York and Vodafone Group PLC of the U.K. In response, Verizon Wireless has implemented a host of privacy measures. For instance, to sign up for a location-based service like "VZ Navigator," an application that uses GPS to tell users where they are, what is around them and give them driving directions, a user must accept the service's terms and conditions, which includes allowing Verizon Wireless to gather information about the location of their device. The company says it doesn't store any GPS information after users close out the session.

The GPS feature, which is built into the phone, isn't always active. It generally starts tracking when the user launches location-based service. Even when applications like Loopt are running, users can elect not to have their information shared with other users by pressing a button.

Sam Altman, 21, hatched the idea for Loopt two years ago while a sophomore at Stanford University, where he is currently taking a leave of absence. He was looking for two friends he wanted to have lunch with and wondered: wouldn't it be cool if I could look at my cellphone and see whether they were already nearby?

At the time, he turned to his classmate Nick Sivo, now Loopt's chief technology officer, who told him the system he envisioned was impossible because GPS phones weren't widely available. That has changed.

Once users download the Loopt application to their cellphones, and invite and verify their friends, they can click on the application icon to view a map that will display their friends' locations as green dots. (Their friends also must have Boost and be members of Loopt.) They also can go to another screen to look at messages, or photos, the user's friends have tagged to their locations.

There are other players in the field. Rave Wireless Inc., a New York mobile services and applications provider, is using GPS technology to power a new service called "Entourage" that allows users to make their location available to friends in their Rave address book. Kamida Inc.'s Socialight service requires you to tell it where you are by sending it a text-message with your location. Once you "check-in" by doing so, it allows users to leave text-messages for other people who have checked into the vicinity.

Write to Jessica E. Vascellaro at jessica.vascellaro@wsj.com

location-based service via the Asia Maps

Nokia unveils new mobile services Nokia has introduced two new services that aim to let mobile users blog hassle-free, as well as explore and navigate routes whilst they travel.

The Finnish phone maker on Monday announced it has partnered blog company Six Apart to integrate Vox--a free personal blogging service--in Nokia's N-series multimedia phones, as well as Singapore-based GIS maker (geographic information system) Agis to introduce a location-based service via the Asia Maps application.

Users of compatible N-series handsets such as the Nokia N93i, which was also launched on Monday, can upload videos and photos, as well as update their blogs directly from their devices to the Vox blogging service, according to Nokia.

Video and photo files will be hosted on Vox's site, but users can also post the content on popular blog and Web 2.0 sites, such as Google's blogger service and MySpace, by copying the URL of the media content and inserting it into the blog entry, said Jawahar Kanjilal, director of rich media, music and games business programs at Nokia Multimedia Asia Pacific.

However, this works only if the secondary site supports such content, Kanjulal told ZDNet Asia.

Search and locate Users of Nokia's N95 mobile phone--expected to be available in the first quarter of this year--will be able to use Asia Maps in a range of countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Through Agis' Asia Maps application, users can view detailed maps of major cities in the six countries on their N95 handset, search for locations or points of interest, activate GPS (global positioning system) for turn-by-turn navigation guide, plan routes and bookmark favorite destinations for easy reference, according to Nokia.

In addition, N95 users can use the turn-by-turn voice navigation feature at no charge for up to 60 days after the service is first activated.

Keith Liu, head of games and Internet experiences at Nokia Multimedia Asia Pacific, said "more cities will be introduced through the application" in the coming months.

Liu added that Asia Maps also provides users "the ability to request for points of interest around any given point on the map".

"Even if you are familiar with a city, you may not know how many restaurants there are around your current location, and what kinds of cuisine they serve," he said. "With Asia Maps, a simple query can produce this result, giving you a more varied experience in the city that you're in."

Kanjilal also noted that "most people in Asia will have their first [route] navigation experience more likely on the mobile phone than any other portable device".

N-series duo release Nokia also launched the latest members of its N-series family. Dubbed Nokia N93i and Nokia N76, both handsets are 3G-enabled and run on Symbian and Nokia's third edition Series 60 software platform. The new devices are equipped with 16 million-color 2.4-inch displays and microSD memory expansion.

Measuring 106.5mm (length) by 52mm (width) by 13.7mm (height), the N76 is a clamshell mobile that Nokia is also marketing as an easy-to-use portable media player. The phone supports Bluetooth and USB 2.0 connectivity and features dual-displays, dedicated buttons for quick access to the device's musical functions and an industry-standard 3.5mm headset jack.

The N76 is one of the first Nokia devices to come pre-loaded with games developed by CELL, a Japanese Flash-based games developer. The phone is pre-loaded with five mini games, each taking up no more than 20kb of file space. Users have the option to purchase additional games online via the Catalog application in the phone's menu.

The company's flagship N93i--weighing 163g--features Wi-Fi connectivity and can capture DVD-quality MPEG-4 movies at 30 frames per second via its 3.2-megapixel Carl Zeiss lens.

According to Nokia, the N93i also features on-device media editing functions, TV-out connectivity and comes bundled with Adobe's Premier Element's 3.0 video editing application.

ZDNet Asia's Farihan Bahrin contributed to this report. Farihan is a freelance IT writer based in Singapore.