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Not What We Meant by “Open Internet”

Terrance Upham of New Port Richey, Fla., used his neighbor’s unsecured WiFi connection, police say, to send bomb threats to the Pasco County government building. “They basically traced his bomb threats back to your house?” a reporter asked the neighbor, Walter Haider. “Yeah! Because of my Linksys router,” Haider said. He’s trying to figure out how to secure his WiFi, but doesn’t want to buy the $40 service plan the cable company would require him to buy before helping him. “I can spend 30 more dollars and get a brand new one,” Haider said. He has, however, come up with a novel solution. “I’ll just unplug the router and that’s it,” he said. Then how will he get online? “When I need it I’ll plug it back in,” he said. (MS/WFTS Tampa) ...Or he could ask just about any 12-year-old for help.