[MLB-WIRELESS] Commercial use of MW network

Ryan Abbenhuys sneeze at alphalink.com.au
Thu Mar 4 09:05:24 EST 2004


i disagree to the death :-\

I don't believe we would gain from being exploited by a profitable business
trying to increase profits further by saving money by using our community
network.  If they were paying for the same service they would be paying
thousands of dollars a month.  They are exploiting not only the physical
network but those who spend the time to setup and maintain it who if they
were doing the same thing for a living would be charging a hefty hourly
rate.
It would be ethically wrong for a business to do such a thing and the day a
business uses the melbourne wireless network to save themselves money is the
day I have a wireless garage sale.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dan Flett" <conhoolio at hotmail.com>
To: "'Ryan Abbenhuys'" <sneeze at alphalink.com.au>
Cc: "Melbourne Wireless" <melbwireless at wireless.org.au>
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2004 12:08 AM
Subject: RE: [MLB-WIRELESS] Commercial use of MW network


> What I'm getting at is that "we" (the hobbyist users/creators of the
> network) possibly stand to gain as much if not more than "they"
> (potential commercial users) do from us.  Mutual exploitation is to
> everyone's gain.  A company-operated node would be well-resourced and
> reliable.  And because they're on "our" network we would make it clear
> to them that just as they use our nodes, we can use theirs.  As far as I
> can tell, there are no rules governing who can, can't or
> can-with-conditions access the Melbourne Wireless network.  The only
> considerations as to access are technical Quality-of-Service issues.  I
> would suggest that any company that wished to use the network would be
> asked to adhere to the principles of free access.  If they don't, we can
> always block them.  There are already commercial users of the 2.4Ghz
> band, and many private commercial 802.11b networks across town.  How is
> it different if two disparate parts of such a private commercial network
> are connected via VPN across our network?
>
> The reason we keep getting knocked back for access to prime locations
> for our nodes is because the companies who own the sites can't see
> what's in it for them.  If we formally open the MW network to them we're
> far more likely to be able to get nodes up at those great sites.
>
> As for wether the MW network is reliable enough for business use -
> consider that at the moment many companies with remote offices use
> dial-up to connect to the main office.  If the wireless link fails, they
> can always go back to dial-up and be no worse off than they were
> originally.  The MW network offers a way to get network access to sites
> where it may be impractical to get a phone line installed - temporary
> sites for instance.
>
> Ultimately, the more nodes on the network, the more reliable (via
> redundancy) it is.  And with more working, routing nodes the easier it
> is for new nodes to connect.  Then we will have a real city-wide
> network.
>
> Dan
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-melbwireless at wireless.org.au [mailto:owner-
> > melbwireless at wireless.org.au] On Behalf Of Ryan Abbenhuys
> > Sent: Wednesday, 3 March 2004 22:43
> > To: Dan Flett
> > Cc: melbwireless at wireless.org.au
> > Subject: Re: [MLB-WIRELESS] Commercial use of MW network
> >
> > it's an iffy area, it depends what the company is doing with it and
> what
> > sort of traffic and whether any money is exchanging hands as to
> whether
> > it's
> > legal by ACA regulations.
> >
> > without proper legal advice we would be best to steer clear of
> anything
> > like.
> >
> > As I mentioned, personally, I'd be very pissed off if I discovered a
> > company
> > was using any part of the network I was helping run and would make
> this
> > VERY
> > clear to them. :-\
> >
> > In my opinion a company should morally and ethically NOT use a
> community
> > network to save themselves money.  I don't know any non-profit
> community
> > group that would allow a company to use their resources in order to
> save
> > themselves money.
> >
> > The committee and members will need to discuss this position to decide
> > where
> > we stand with regards to non-individuals or community/non-profit
> groups
> > using the network and actual companies
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Dan Flett" <conhoolio at hotmail.com>
> > To: "'Ryan Abbenhuys'" <sneeze at alphalink.com.au>
> > Cc: "'Melbourne Wireless'" <melbwireless at wireless.org.au>
> > Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 10:38 PM
> > Subject: RE: [MLB-WIRELESS] Commercial use of MW network
> >
> >
> > > At this point, what's stopping a company from using the MW network?
> Are
> > > there any laws or government regulations that prohibit a company
> from,
> > > say, putting a VPN across our network to link it's main office to a
> > > temporary site office?
> > >
> > > Dan
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Ryan Abbenhuys [mailto:sneeze at alphalink.com.au]
> > > > Sent: Wednesday, 3 March 2004 22:24
> > > > To: Dan Flett
> > > > Cc: melbwireless at wireless.org.au
> > > > Subject: Re: [MLB-WIRELESS] Commercial use of MW network
> > > >
> > > > No, for legal and licensing reasons.
> > > >
> > > > On a personal level I wouldn't want any company using part of the
> > > network
> > > > for commercial reasons that I helped setup or maintain
> > > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: "Dan Flett" <conhoolio at hotmail.com>
> > > > To: "Melbourne Wireless" <melbwireless at wireless.org.au>
> > > > Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 10:21 PM
> > > > Subject: [MLB-WIRELESS] Commercial use of MW network
> > >
> >
> >
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>
>
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