Comment by cm2187 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by cm2187 | Hacker News Reader

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I think it is sort of pointless. You have free wifis pretty much everywhere now. You don't really need a SIM card to communicate - even by voice - with other people.

What will happen then? Starbuck will need to ask for your ID when you connect to their wifi? Russia is doing pretty much that with internet cafes.

These control freaks need to get over the idea that they will achieve electronically a level of government control which would be absolutely unacceptable in the physical world (the "I want you to report to the police who you talked to during the day and you also need to check their ID to ensure that your reports to the police are accurate", even the Soviet Union - or the Stasi - didn't go that far).

Free Wifis are a lot more scarce in Germany though.

https://freifunk.net/en/

The largest such network that I know of anywhere.

Check out https://seattlemesh.net/

I don't know about Germany, but a friend of mine visited London without roaming, and I was surprised that he achieved pretty much constant connectivity. There is almost not a single restaurant, coffee shop, airport or train without free wifi.

That's completely different in Germany, because here everyone with an internet access is legally liable for any misconduct done using their connection. There are movements to change this, but Germany still is the country with the lowest free-wifi coverage worldwide (I assume).

The equivalent of that in the physical world would be the restaurant being responsible for what its guest are discussing about at its table. How do we know that these guys in suit at that table aren't planning a fraud?

I think it's safe to say you have probably better free wifi coverage than somewhere like Somalia or Liberia.

> I think it is sort of pointless. You have free wifis pretty much everywhere now.

Not where I was going in Australia! The Optus network only worked when it felt like it, and that was just 350km from Sydney.

Australia is particularly bad at the Internet because of state meddling. But Australians like a large amount of state meddling, so don't expect this to change any time soon.

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