Schlagwort-Archive: EFF

EFF: Mesh Networking, Good. Overbroad Patents, Bad. Help Us Protect Mesh Networking.

Schreibe eine Antwort

Die Electronic Frontier Foundation bittet um Mithilfe in Bezug auf Mesh-Patente. Die EFF sieht ein großes Problem in bestimmten Patenten, die Einfluss auf verbreitete Mesh-Protokolle (wie das von Freifunk entwickelte B.A.T.M.A.N.-Protokoll) haben könnten:

Wireless Mesh Networking is still in its nascent stages, and the innovations and experimentation of the open source community are playing a vital role in advancing the technology. However, there has also been significant proprietary and military interest in the technology, and companies are seeking patents in many areas of WMN already explored by the open source community. We unfortunately know what can happen when overbroad patents get granted—the rise of patent trolls, lawsuits that can threaten growing businesses, and threats that target entire areas of technology. We don’t want to see that happen to mesh networking.

We have identified several patent applications that we believe particularly threaten the free development of mesh networking technology. There is a danger that these patents, if granted, will lock up the basic mesh network infrastructure and restrict advancement of and access to the technology.

Die EFF bittet nun um Mithilfe auf der Suche nach sogenanntem Stand der Technik (Prior Art), um die Patente zu Fall zu bringen:

Which is why we need your help. We are again partnering with Ask Patents so you can help us identify the best prior art to reign in these applications. While prior art for issued patents must date back many years, these are recently filed applications for which relatively recent publications may be helpful. Look at each “Request for Prior Art” we post to learn the exact priority date.

Working together we can protect the mesh networking community from overbroad, illegitimate patents that threaten to stifle innovation and access to technologies that preserve personal freedoms.

Copyright-Hinweis: Der Artikel von Julie Samuels steht unter einer Creative Commons-Attribution (CC-BY 3.0)-Lizenz.

Open Wireless Movement (EFF)

Schreibe eine Antwort

Die Eletronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) hat ein Open Wireless Movement angekündigt.

In dem Beitrag von Peter Eckersley legt die EFF dar, dass das Öffnen der Netze der Allgemeinheit nütze und aus diesem Grunde etwas „gesellschaftlich Verantwortliches“ sei und bedauert den Rückgang der offenen Netze.

Most of us have had the experience of tremendous inconvenience because of a lack of Internet access. Being lost in a strange place with no way to find a map; having an urgent email to send with no way to do so; trying to meet a friend with no way to contact them. Even if we have data plans for our mobile phones, we’ve probably had these experience in cities or countries where our phones don’t have coverage or don’t have coverage for less-than-extortionate prices. We may even experience this problem at home, when our Internet connection dies while we urgently need to use it.

Finding yourself in one of these binds is a bit like finding yourself parched and thirsty while everyone around you is sipping from nice tall glasses of iced water, or finding yourself cold and drenched in a rain storm because nobody will let you under their umbrella. At those moments when you are lost, or missing a deadline, or failing to meet your friend, it is almost always true that Internet data links are traveling through your body in the form of electromagnetic wireless signals — it’s just that people have chosen to lock those networks so that you can’t make use of them. …

The gradual disappearance of open wireless networks is a tragedy of the commons, with a confusing twist of privacy and security debate.

Eckersley geht auch auf die verschiedenen Gründe ein, warum Netze nicht geöffnet oder wieder geschlossen werden und fordert technische Entwicklungen, um dem zu begegnen:

The problem that’s really killing open WiFi is the idea that an unlocked network is a security and privacy risk. … This idea is only partially true. …

But an Open Wireless Movement will also need to do technical work: we need to build new technologies to ensure that people have an easy way to share a portion of their bandwidth without affecting the performance of their own network connections while at the same time ensuring that there is absolutely no privacy downside to running an open wireless network.

There is currently no WiFi protocol that allows anybody to join the network, while using link-layer encryption to prevent each network member from eavesdropping on the others. But such a protocol should exist. There are some technical details to work through, but they are manageable.

Die EFF lädt nun zum Mitmachen und Teilnehmen ein:

EFF will be working with other organizations to launch an Open Wireless Movement in the near future. In the mean time, we’re keen to hear from technologists with wireless expertise who would like to help us work on the protocol engineering tasks that are needed to make network sharing easier from a privacy and bandwidth-sharing perspective. You can write to us at .

(via Golem)