[MLB-WIRELESS] Fw: Text of NYC Time Warner nastygram to free 802.11 access point

Mon Jul 1 15:50:07 EST 2002

The nasty letter in all its glory.
- Barry

-----Original Message-----
From: Declan McCullagh <declan at well.com>
To: politech at politechbot.com <politech at politechbot.com>
Date: Saturday, June 29, 2002 7:46 AM
Subject: FC: Text of NYC Time Warner nastygram to free 802.11 access point

>Previous Politech message:
>
>"NYC Time Warner Cable sending nastygrams to free 802.11 points?"
>http://www.politechbot.com/p-03689.html
>
>---
>
>From: "rick tait" <rickt at rickt.org>
>To: <declan at well.com>, <farber at cis.upenn.edu>
>Cc: <jpj at jpj.net>, <press at nycwireless.net>,
>    "Alli Hobbs (Home)" <alli at allihobbs.com>
>References: <20020626152452.A26206 at cluebot.com>
>Subject: UPDATE: NYC Time Warner Cable sending nastygrams to free 802.11
>points?
>Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 14:45:29 -0400
>
>Declan:
>
>Quick update re: Time Warner's nastygram.
>
>I scanned in the letter and posted it up in various file formats at:
>
>http://rickt.org/stuff/soho_wireless/twcnyc/
>
>They gave me 3 days from receipt of the nastygram to give them written
>confirmation that I would remove the wireless access point, which is of
>course ridiculous - the USPS couldn't get a letter across NYC in three
days,
>and there's no way I'm paying for Fedex overnight out of my own pocket, so
I
>attempted to contact their Security & Abuse group. After leaving multiple
>messages for Greg Powell (the manager who sent me the nastygram), and
>multiple messages for the entire Security & Abuse group -- with no calls
>back from them to me -- I am at this point, ready to just wait it out.
>
>What's interesting though - is they appear to be messing with my regular
>cable account. My internet access was shut off at 00:00 this morning, and I
>was unable to order PPV movies via my remote. After calling their support
>line (regular cable support, not Road Runner) they were unable to
reactivate
>my account for PPV, even though I am fully paid up. They could not explain
>what the problem was, and suggested hardware problems with my cable box as
>the culprit. Uh huh. So then I called the Road Runner people and they
>couldn't see a problem either. Uh huh.
>
>As it stands right now, the 3-day period is up, and I have yet to hear from
>Time Warner in any capacity. My WAP continues as it has before, since I've
>received no response from Time Warner to my questions. These questions are:
>
>1. Does Time Warner have a problem with my extending my cable internet
>service (that I pay them for) to my fire escape or to the cafe underneath
my
>apartment, for my own personal and private fair use? If I enable access
>protection via password to my WiFi network so noone aside from myself can
>access - do they have a problem with this? They have yet to answer this
>question. If their answer is yes, then we have a SERIOUS problem that opens
>up all sorts of questions regarding infringment of my fair use of my own
>internet service. For TWCNYC to claim that I unfairly redistributing my
>service to others or that they just "have a problem with it" even if its
>locked down, is analgous to a long distance firm telling me I can't use a
>cordless phone to call someone using their long distance service, and
>instead I must use their standard, wired phone.
>
>2. Why are TWCNYC concerned about the way in which I access their internet
>service. To be specific: a reporter who it seems is championing my "cause"
>called Road Runner, and it seems they are somewhat pissed at me for doing
>"wacky" technical stuff. I utilise Wireless to Ethernet bridging on my
Apple
>Airport, and I also have my Airport give  out DHCP addresses to my local
>switched LAN and to my laptop via WiFi. Allegedly, they are pissed at me
for
>deviating from "the norm". This is patently absurd. I use Ethernet to
>Wireless bridging so I can have LOCAL connectivity speed between my wired
>G4, roommate's wired iMac and my wireless iBook. If I didn't enable that,
>any packets from wired G4 to wired iMac would have to go all the way to
>TWCNYC's border router, and then all the way back. Why should I do that,
>when I can faciliate local access via DHCP on MY side of the Airport? All
>that TWCNYC sees is a single DHCP client on my side (I am paying for three
>IP's by the way, so they can't accuse me of stiffing them on per-client
>access fees) and NAT'd packets encapsulated inside the regular ones on the
>way out.
>
>The fact that TWCNYC and other firms can do all of this without the
watchful
>eye of any regulators is just appalling.
>
>I won't comment on the "underground free wireless" ramifications of all of
>this, for obvious reasons.
>
>The bottom line: I understand completely why TWCNYC or any other ISP for
>that matter might be pissed at someone allowing free and public access to a
>WAP, using their own underlying backbone - especially to someone who isn't
a
>paying TWCNYC customer. BUT - if I am not going to be allowed to extend the
>useful range of my own, fully-paid TWCNYC cable internet service to my own
>fire escape or to a cafe downstairs EVEN if I password protect it - then
>they surely are infringing my civil rights with respect to fair use of my
>own cable internet service?
>
>I'll be posting this on slashdot at some point today too.
>
>Thanks,
>RMT.
>
>---
>
>Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 14:04:16 -0700 (PDT)
>From: Annalee Newitz <brainsploitation at yahoo.com>
>Subject: Re: FC: NYC Time Warner Cable sending nastygrams to free 802.11
>points?
>To: declan at well.com
>
>In respnse to the Time Warner Cable nastygram: this is
>a commonplace among the larger broadband providers.
>AT&T explicitly forbids open access points as well as
>P2P servers in their contract.
>
>---
>
>Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 15:15:37 -0500 (CDT)
>From: "Robert A. Hayden" <rhayden at geek.net>
>To: Declan McCullagh <declan at well.com>
>Cc: <politech at politechbot.com>
>Subject: Re: FC: NYC Time Warner Cable sending nastygrams to free 802.11
>  points?
>
>The only problem with going to TWC and asking for clarification is that
>you admit you have an access point.  You're better off responding with a
>letter that says "I have removed public access to my device" and leave it
>back in TWCs court to prove that, in fact, it is public.   At that point
>you can just say "Um, please try to use it....gee you can't can you."
>
>Legitimately, they are trying to stop people from building wireless
>networks for the masses fed by one residential link.  They are probably
>just a little overzealous.
>
>---
>
>Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 13:39:08 -0700
>From: Jimmy Wales <jwales at bomis.com>
>To: Declan McCullagh <declan at well.com>
>Cc: rickt at rickt.org
>Subject: Re: FC: NYC Time Warner Cable sending nastygrams to free 802.11
>points?
>
>It might be helpful to politechbot subscribers if Rick could indicate
>how Time Warner even knows he has an 802.11?
>
>If Rick is advertising free access to all his neighbors, and the
>bandwidth over his modem is higher than average, then of course Time
>Warner has good reason to complain.
>
>It strikes me as unlikely for Time Warner to bother going around sniffing
the
>airwaves for 802.11 packets.  It also strikes me as unlikely for them to
even
>notice or care if people have an unsecured 802.11 network at home -- until
it
>starts eating up a lot of bandwidth.
>
>---
>
>Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 16:52:41 -0400
>From: Rich Kulawiec <rsk at firemountain.net>
>To: Declan McCullagh <declan at well.com>
>Cc: rick tait <rickt at rickt.org>
>Subject: Re: FC: NYC Time Warner Cable sending nastygrams to free 802.11
>points?
>
>On Wed, Jun 26, 2002 at 03:24:52PM -0400, Declan McCullagh wrote:
> > I've not seen anything on Politech regarding this specific issue before,
but
> > my roommate just called me and let me know that Time Warner Cable of NYC
has
> > just sent me a snotty letter basically telling me to shut off my public
> > access point immediately - PERIOD - as its not allowed according to the
> > contract I signed to get their cable service.
>
>Does this mean that if you comply in full with their demands, but I
>happen to move in downstairs and set up my 802.11 network -- not connected
>to anything except for itself -- and TWCNYC discovers it on their next
>sweep, that you'll lose your cable service?
>
>---Rsk
>
>---
>
>From: "Barclay McInnes" <barc at netdud.com>
>To: <declan at well.com>
>References: <20020626152452.A26206 at cluebot.com>
>Subject: Re: NYC Time Warner Cable sending nastygrams to free 802.11
points?
>Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 13:56:18 -0700
>
>What's next?  The TWCNYC gestapo come by your residence at random hours to
>inspect your cable modem to see if it's hooked up to a Cable/DSL router or
a
>Linux box and is illegally sharing your connection with wires?  This is
>ludicrous.
>
>The way this kind of problem is solved by the cable people up in Canada (at
>least Shaw and Videotron in BC and Alberta, can't speak for others further
>east than that) is that they look at your usage.  If you're not using a
lot,
>no problem.  If you're using a lot, they send a nastygram telling you to
>stop doing that, or they will bill you $4 a gig over a certain threshold.
>If you're using stupid amounts (the Shaw guy I talked to once said they saw
>a kid in an apartment pulling down 19 GB in  3 days...) they just cut you
>off as soon as they notice you.  Seems to work well here.....  Nobody I
know
>who runs an 802.11 open point has had a problem with excessive traffic, and
>no problems with the cable-co.
>
>Barclay McInnes
>
>---
>
>
>
>
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