[COLUG] OT: Columbus Community Wireless Project

[Steven A. Hill]

I don't have a whole lot of time, but I am interested in the technical and
legal aspects of this. I have some knowledge, for example, in getting FCC
waivers for power and antenna gain limitations in the ISM bands that include
820.11. Plus, I am beginning to study 802.16 and ODFM
(http://isp.webopedia.com/TERM/O/OFDM.html), which has a kind of
terrain-following aspect that can bounce signals around and off of what
might otherwise be an obstacle.

So, please keep me in mind is a committee forms.

Steven Hill
Patent Attorney


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "josef salyer" <josef at airtide.com>
To: "Central Group" <colug1 at colug.net>
Sent: Friday, August 13, 2004 10:42 AM
Subject: Re: [COLUG] OT: Columbus Community Wireless Project


> Jim,
>
> Thanks for the props.
>
> I was thinking of putting together a committee to study the problem and
> to focus on all those issues with the goal of putting together a
> proposal.
>
> > What do you see as the challenges?
>
> The initial challenge is starting the discussion.  There's a lot of
> value in homebrewed AP's as well as the opportunities presented by the
> Linksys WRT54G router.  By keeping the system open for development and
> comment, we'll be able to build the best network.
>
> One of the toughest obstacles used to be user adoption, but in Columbus
> I don't think of that as a real challenge any more.
>
> > Who pays for the access points?
>
> There are a number of issues there.  I have a couple ideas, but I'm
> looking for comments and feedback on those ideas that will provide the
> best model.  Providing free access should be a priority, but how to pay
> for that access and who pays for that access would require more
> investigation.
>
> For example, in the short north and similar neighborhoods, there's a
> business organization already in existence that could see the easy
> advantage to providing community access.  There are already a number of
> individual locations that provide access for free, so using those
> locations as a starting point and co-opting support from the business
> community should be relatively easy.
>
> Now providing access in a less fortunate neighborhood - the bottoms,
> old town east, etc.  might be more difficult, but the need is
> definitely greater as having high speed internet access is something
> that will increasingly become important to lower income families.  I
> think there's a benefit to studying other community projects that are
> non technology based that have targeted similar socioeconomic
> situations can provide a good starting point for cost/benefit analysis
> and just simply seeing how they "got it done".
>
> > What is the legal liability of access point providers?
>
> A very good question that's under constant scrutiny.  Developing a
> thorough End User agreement and legal strategy would be part of the
> discussion.  There are certain legal liabilities associated with being
> an ISP that would have to be addressed, but I've found (anecdotally)
> that peer based enforcement works the best in any community initiative.
>
> > Which ISPs have terms of service that friendly towards the
> > subscriber hooking up an open access point to the web?
>
> Lots and lots.  In fact, more and more providers are eliminating the
> sharing portion of their EULA as they've found it nye impossible to
> enforce.  But, that being said, finding multiple providers to provide
> access back to the Internet would be the best.
>
> >
>
> -josef
>
>
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