Welcome to Gahtan’s Technology and Internet Law Blog

I recently had an opportunity to play with Zyxel’s new AG-225H wi-fi finder/usb adapter and liked what I saw.

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Many early adopters are now accumulating multiple devices that can connect to the Internet. These can include a laptop (and possibly a second laptop for a spouse or other partner), wireless-capable PDA, voice-over-IP phone adapter or telephone, handheld gaming consoles, etc. When traveling, it is now advantageous to carry a router or even a wireless router.

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Hasbro’s Chat Now product looks like a real winner. Its an FRS type walkie-talkie in a cellphone package and with other cell phone copy-cat features such as the ability to send text messages between units, take photographs with the built-in digital camera and call between units using unique phone numbers. The communication range is listed as two miles but actual distance will likely be significantly less. The product retails for about $80 per pair but they are difficult to find and eBay sellers appear to be getting higher prices. I’ve got a few ideas for Hasbro on turn this “good” product into a “great product”.

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Yesterday, I saw an article on ZDnet that I thought I’d comment on. So I clicked the feedback button. Turned out that in order to add any feedback, one had to register for ZDnet. This did not just involved the usual request for an email address, which is then verified, but also involved a request for a lot of other information. More than should be required just to provide feedback. As part of the “registration”, users are also asked if they wish to subscribe to certain emails newsletters. By default, certain ones are prechecked. I unchecked everything and then registered. Just one day later, I’ve already started to receive unwanted emails. It seems that there are other newsletters that new users are automatically subscribed to unless they log into their account and uncheck further boxes. Come on. If users provide information, including emails address, for one purpose or sign up to perform a specific task, that information should not be used for other purposes without explicit consent. Users should not be subject to reading long privacy policies each time they sign up for something new.

Yesterday I wrote about a new unannounced wi-fi voip phone from Linksys, the WIP 300. I am excited by the fact that it appears to be the first wi-fi VOIP phone out there that has a built-in browser (which would likely allow it to connect through most public hotspots that require users to log in or that require users to click through an initial page). Since then I’ve listened to a couple of podcasts about VOIP security and the difficultly of building in functionality to protect (encrypt) the conversation, particularly when products of different manufacturers are utilized. Here’s a thought - why not build in a PPTP VPN client?

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From eWeek - FTC Celebrates CAN-SPAM with Spam Suits:

On Tuesday, the FTC said it filed complaints against three spam operations accused of violating CAN-SPAM, and said Canada’s, Competition Bureau and Attorneys General in Florida, North Carolina and Texas took action against or settled cases against five others.

Those actions, coupled with better antispam technology have reduced the amount of spam consumers receive, or caused it to level off, FTC said.

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Untangled Life points to WiGLE Wireless Geographic Logging Engine, an online database of almost 4.8 million wireless accessing points. The downside is that street maps only appear to be available for the United States.

I thought I’d compare the International data roaming rates of the two Canadian GSM carriers with the two US GSM carriers. As expected, Canadians overpay…

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