Open WiFi Debate
The open WiFi debate is raising some thorny questions, such as who is responsible if total strangers use someone's WiFi connection to download copyrighted material. When copyright lawyers debate this question, they often come to different conclusions so now the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is stepping into the fray to offer their opinion on the issue.
The increase in copyright trolls has pushed this issue to the forefront, as it raises a debate about whether those people who operate open WiFi networks can be held liable when these networks are used by others for copyright infringement. The EFF comes down squarely on the side of the open WiFi operators, noting that a court has never found anyone liable because another user of their WiFi connection committed a crime. Rather, they argue that public WiFi connections are a valuable public service and providers should are in no way liable for any abuses of this service.