[s-t] File sharing vs Bandwidth sharing

[Spastic Mutant]

The RIAA dropped its lawsuit against the sculptor
who had a Mac and couldn't possibly have used Kazaa
to download songs.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/09/24/tech.lawsuit.ap/index.html

So then I started thinkin'...

But what if, say, I had a wireless access point on
my cable or DSL modem setup and allowed friends and
neighbors (maybe even warchalker strangers) to use
it for whatever they chose?  I certainly can't stop
them from downloading music, I'm just allowing them
to use my link. If I never downloaded songs or even
had a host capable of running Kazaa, like this
person, am I still off the hook?

And if I'm responsible for that, wouldn't that make
my ISP responsible too?  I'm doing what they are
doing, I'm just not taking names - I don't track
who uses my WAP.  Even if I just keep a list of
wireless MAC addresses, that still doesn't really
translate into anything of use to a prosecutor.

If an open WAP means that the owner is subject to
major criminal prosecution based on the behavior of
the other people using it, then is there now an
implicit requirement that all WAPs be secured, like
a car or a gun?

What are the legal responsibilities of a wireless
access point owner/provider, and are people who own
WAPs aware of them?  If I implement the security
protocols and someone breaks into my supposedly
secure wireless network anyway, and is able to
access bandwidth, am I still responsible for their
downloads even if I implemented the standard
precautions? Or is it like a swimming pool, an
"attractive nuisance", for which the swimming pool
owner is responsible for the drowning of
neighborhood children even though he puts a six
foot fence around it?



Anne Marie
--
When the poor steal from the middle class, it's called robbery.
When the middle class steal from the rich, it's called embezzlement.
When the rich steal from the poor, it's called Business.
                                   --Anne Marie Merritt, Nov 2, 1996


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