In the US at least you have to authenticate with your Comcast credentials and not like a traditional open wifi where you can just make up an email and accept the terms of service. I also understand that it is a different IP than the subscriber. Based on this the subscriber should be protected from anyone doing anything illegal and causing the SWAT team to pay a visit. I haven't upgraded my gear though.
Now..they are doing this on your electric bill and taking up space (albeit a small amount of it) in your home. Chuck On Wed, Dec 10, 2014 at 9:35 PM, Jeroen van Aart <jer...@mompl.net> wrote: > Why am I not surprised? > > Whose fault would it be if your comcast installed public wifi would be > abused to download illegal material or launch a botnet, to name some random > fun one could have on your behalf. :-/ > > (apologies if this was posted already, couldn't find an email about it on > the list) > > http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/12/10/disgruntled_ > customers_lob_sueball_at_comcast_over_public_wifi/ > > "A mother and daughter are suing Comcast claiming the cable giant's router > in their home was offering public Wi-Fi without their permission. > > Comcast-supplied routers broadcast an encrypted, private wireless network > for people at home, plus a non-encrypted network called XfinityWiFi that > can be used by nearby subscribers. So if you're passing by a fellow user's > home, you can lock onto their public Wi-Fi, log in using your Comcast > username and password, and use that home's bandwidth. > > However, Toyer Grear, 39, and daughter Joycelyn Harris – who live together > in Alameda County, California – say they never gave Comcast permission to > run a public network from their home cable connection. > > In a lawsuit [PDF] filed in the northern district of the golden state, the > pair accuse the ISP of breaking the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and two > other laws. > > Grear – a paralegal – and her daughter claim the Xfinity hotspot is an > unauthorized intrusion into their private home, places a "vast" burden on > electricity bills, opens them up to attacks by hackers, and "degrades" > their bandwidth. > > "Comcast does not, however, obtain the customer's authorization prior to > engaging in this use of the customer's equipment and internet service for > public, non-household use," the suit claims. > > "Indeed, without obtaining its customers' authorization for this > additional use of their equipment and resources, over which the customer > has no control, Comcast has externalized the costs of its national Wi-Fi > network onto its customers." > > The plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages for themselves and on behalf > of all Comcast customers nation-wide in their class-action case – the > service was rolled out to 20 million customers this year." > > -- > Earthquake Magnitude: 4.8 > Date: 2014-12-10 22:10:36.800 UTC > Date Local: 2014-12-10 13:10:36 PST > Location: 120km W of Panguna, Papua New Guinea > Latitude: -6.265; Longitude: 154.4004 > Depth: 35 km | e-quake.org >