Launching their free Wi-Fi sharing software yesterday, Spanish start-up Whisher are following in the footsteps of Fon, another Don Quichotte-like figure – fighting the towering ISP windmills that remain distant and unimpressed – but for how long?
According to ISPortal there is one simple reason that would explain this haughty indifference, in the USA at least – sharing broadband is illegal.
“Sharing broadband access outside of your dwelling is a violation of our subscriber agreement,” said Maureen Huff, a spokeswoman for Time Warner Cable, the second largest cable operator in the U.S.
If this is so, how come many seem prepared to share, as a quick map search on the Fon site shows? Or is it that no action is taken while ever they represent a limited nuisance – a small breeze for a windmill. Whether it will remain so will depend on the success of companies like Whisher perhaps.
Where Whisher differs from Fon is in the technology used to authenticate and register for public networks. Whereas Fon, who began by developing soft-ware for existing routers, have recently taken to tailor made Fon routers, Whisher’s answer is 100% peer-to-peer soft-ware based and available on Linux, Mac or Windows. This software finds the best Wi-Fi hot spots and automatically provides secure access to that network.
Getting back to the legality of sharing broadband, Ferran Moreno – co-founder and CEO of Whisher – sums up his feelings,
“Either you believe in the user-generated revolution or you believe ISPs rule the world, I believe ISPs don’t rule the world and how the Internet works. If I am paying for my broadband, I have the right to share it with other people, as long as I am not reselling the service. And we are not reselling access.”
Between Madrid (where Fon are based) and Barcelona (where Whisher are based) lies the region of Saragossa where Don Quichotte wandered in search of a noble quest………to be continued.
via ISPortal