France Will Not Ban Wi-Fi Or Tor

It looks as though common sense has prevailed in France. The Prime Minister had this to say about banning Wi-Fi and Tor:

"A ban of Wi-Fi is not a course of action envisaged," Valls responded on Wednesday. Nor is he in favor of a ban on Tor, which encrypts and masks users' identifying data, the Connexion reported. "Internet is a freedom, is an extraordinary means of communication between people, it is a benefit to the economy," Valls added.

What about all those people with Wi-Fi sensitivity? What will they do.

I'm still trying to figure how they would institute a ban on Wifi and TOR.

I think you have to consider that they mean wi-fi via cellphones. The phone providers could institute a mechanism that shuts off cell phone wi-fi in an emergency situation.

Again, I think this was suggested by the security guys who were thinking that if they could shut off wi-fi from cell phones then in a situation like what happened in France the other day, the bad guys would have to rely on regular 3G/4G phone communications and that they would be easier to intercept them.

It's actually not a terrible idea if that is how they planned to implement it. But it could work against them as well. What if the bad guys decide to take out local cell towers for their own purposes, with Wi-Fi blocked no one would be able to talk with authorities and report information that would otherwise help them better respond to a crisis.

The other issue is that every communications path you block is one that can't be used to gather information on the bad guys. Double edged sword.

the-one1 said:

I'm still trying to figure how they would institute a ban on Wifi and TOR.

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With the same wave of a magic wand that a certain American would use to "close the Internet up in some way".

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the-one1 said:

I'm still trying to figure how they would institute a ban on Wifi and TOR.

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Same way we did it in Iraq and Afghanistan. We started using signal receptors to track people utilizing cell phone signals to communicate when the Intel guys figured it was far easier to narrow down who we wanted to find then to shut down all communications in a given sector. Some people were utilizing WiFi jammers on freeways not to long ago and the FCC blocked there sale in the US. None of this is difficult but what is the tactical advantage to doing so?

Any ban-hammer they swing is counterproductive as it can be circumvented easily.

You are wrong bomni, at least about things being easily circumvented.

bomni said:

Any ban-hammer they swing is counterproductive as it can be circumvented easily.

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You circumvent it all you do is light up like a beacon to anyone monitoring communications in that area. The Russians became very proficient in signal exploitation tech to the point that used your signal to drop a GBU or precision guided artillery on top of a city block. It is far easier to mock this as impossible or improbable than to admit the truth.

mstersmith80 said:

You circumvent it all you do is light up like a beacon to anyone monitoring communications in that area. The Russians became very proficient in signal exploitation tech to the point that used your signal to drop a GBU or precision guided artillery on top of a city block. It is far easier to mock this as impossible or improbable than to admit the truth.

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Bombing city blocks in Paris, New York City, or San Bernardino that had terrorists in them would be awesome.

mstersmith80 said:

Some people were utilizing WiFi jammers on freeways

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Why???

mstersmith80 said:

Some people were utilizing WiFi jammers on freeways not to long ago and the FCC blocked there sale in the US.

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chenw said:

Why???

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It was actually truckers using GPS jammers on freeways so their employers couldn't track them, but getting caught because they disrupted stuff they really, really shouldn't have.

There is some wifi and cellular jamming going on not involving freeways, more along the lines of teachers blocking wifi in classrooms so students pay attention, or theaters (both movie and stage) blocking rude audience members.

evilsofa said:

It was actually truckers using GPS jammers on freeways so their employers couldn't track them, but getting caught because they disrupted stuff they really, really shouldn't have.

There is some wifi and cellular jamming going on not involving freeways, more along the lines of teachers blocking wifi in classrooms so students pay attention, or theaters (both movie and stage) blocking rude audience members.

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Just out of pure curiosity, how much would a typical unlimited data plan in US cost monthly? It seems that Wi-Fi connection is more in demand than I anticipated.

Also, with regards to Jamming, isn't employers allowed to either implement countermeasures against such jamming or even fire the drivers for using such a device?