Live data from Hacker News

Germany's Wi-Fi Shortage Set to Ease as Merkel Backs New Bill

bloomberg.com

91–100 of 115 posts

Re: Germany's Wi-Fi Shortage Set to Ease as Merkel Backs New Bill

#91
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

wait, you're embarrassed because a politician has an accent when speaking English?

No, because his english is horrible, and then he said, during a press conference "we’re here in Germany, we talk Deutsch!". In general, his english is so bad that it’s become some kind of running gag.

> No, because his english is horrible, and then he said, during a press conference "we’re here in Germany, we talk Deutsch!".

You're confusing Westerwelle with Öttinger.

Re: Germany's Wi-Fi Shortage Set to Ease as Merkel Backs New Bill

#92

I'm currently suffering two copyright infringement cases, which I can only assume are the result of the storm that reset my FritzRepeater back to factory settings, leaving an open bridge into my network. Two copyright claims, from two law firms, for albums I've never heard of, at times that I wasn't in the house. Because of an arcane, but largely logical German law named "Störerhaftung" I am by default responsible, a…

> Because of an arcane, but largely logical German law named "Störerhaftung" I am by default responsible, and have to pay both claims (in the order of €5,000 each). I have no recourse.

"Störerhaftung" does not make you liable. It only allows for injunctive relief, not damages [1].

What's creating problems is that the courts make a (rebuttable) presumption that the owner of an internet endpoint is also responsible for copyright violations (and torts in general) arising from its use.

[1] http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_bgb/englisch_bgb....

[2] http://www.offenenetze.de/tag/sekundare-darlegungslast/ (German only, sorry)

Re: Germany's Wi-Fi Shortage Set to Ease as Merkel Backs New Bill

#93
post #63

Oh, that explains. I've always wondered why there are so incredibly few hotspots in Germany - and the few existing hotspots are paid. Voiced it a few times to Germans but nobody knew it was because operators would be held liable.

May I introduce you to Freifunk:

They're basically working around Störerhaftung by channeling the traffic over a gateway as an ISP. Everyone can offer up part of their traffic, and there are quite a few members (as shown in the local groups, they have maps). Feel free to use some of our traffic, for example. No problems so far.

http://freifunk.net/en/

Re: Germany's Wi-Fi Shortage Set to Ease as Merkel Backs New Bill

#94
post #91
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, because his english is horrible, and then he said, during a press conference "we’re here in Germany, we talk Deutsch!". In general, his english is so bad that it’s become some kind of running gag.

> No, because his english is horrible, and then he said, during a press conference "we’re here in Germany, we talk Deutsch!". You're confusing Westerwelle with Öttinger.

Öttinger said the same, too. Extra3 made fun of him for copying Westerwelle.

It doesn’t change anything anyway.

Re: Germany's Wi-Fi Shortage Set to Ease as Merkel Backs New Bill

#95
post #83
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just a sidenote: I think the reason the term "WiFi" never caught on in Germany is that 1. It sounds really awkward in German (most speakers will pronounce the "W" as in German, i.e. "Vi-Fi"). 2. WLAN is easier to say (think "V-LAN"). 3. It can easily be confused with "HiFi" (which, btw, is commonly pronounced as "Hi-Fee" for some reason, creating additional confusion about the acceptable pronunciation of "WiFi" in Ge…

I'd guess HiFi is pronounced Hi-Fee as it takes the "fi" sound from "High Fidelity".

Sure, but then WiFi would be expected to be pronounced the same -- yet I've never heard it pronounced as "Wi-Fee" in English.

Re: Germany's Wi-Fi Shortage Set to Ease as Merkel Backs New Bill

#96

> as long as they secure the network properly How do I prove it? This right here is so abmahnung trolls can keep on threatening > and get users to agree not to act illegally Yet another useless popup, cookie popup is not enough > ”digital agenda” aimed at blanketing the country with high-speed Internet by 2018 A yeah, "VDSL for all". Where do I buy VDSL modem in 2018? I will have to break into Technisches Museum and…

Why don't you want a Fritz!Box? If the internet comments are to be believed, they are the best routers in Germany. [0]

[0] Note: I'm a USian who is rather happy with his EdgeRouter Lite + UAP-AC-LR.

Re: Germany's Wi-Fi Shortage Set to Ease as Merkel Backs New Bill

#97

I'm currently suffering two copyright infringement cases, which I can only assume are the result of the storm that reset my FritzRepeater back to factory settings, leaving an open bridge into my network. Two copyright claims, from two law firms, for albums I've never heard of, at times that I wasn't in the house. Because of an arcane, but largely logical German law named "Störerhaftung" I am by default responsible, a…

How do you know that they don't just flat out lie about these files being downloaded by your IP?

In Poland company bought out rights to one porn movie, then claimed to the police that that file was downloaded by random ip addresses (out of major providers pools) on torrent. Police ordered the companies to release home addresses of those ip users. Then the company slent email demanding settlment money. Some people paid. Now they are suing the company to get their money back. So many people police about this that they issue public statement that there was nothing criminal and they dropped the case.

Re: Germany's Wi-Fi Shortage Set to Ease as Merkel Backs New Bill

#98

This bill is actually heavily criticized in germany, for example by the Freifunk initiative: http://freifunkstattangst.de/2015/06/16/neuer-tmg-entwurf-zu... (german) The bill requires network operators to make "reasonable effort to secure the network against unauthorized access" and to "allow access only to users that have agreed not to violate the law during their use" of the network. The bill also takes service pro…

I think "gefahrgeeignete Dienste" could be translated as "services with potential for dangerous misuse", no?

Like serving a knife and a fork?

Re: Germany's Wi-Fi Shortage Set to Ease as Merkel Backs New Bill

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would a bad person actually refuse to agree with not breaking the law? A 'bad' person already has a willingness to not follow the rules, so how would an agreement matter?

I think the point is to clearly shift the moral hazard away from the provider to the user. The user may not uphold the agreement, but then they are clearly the morally wrong party.

Isn't there some meta rule about the first world countries law systems (us excluded) that the only crimes you are responsible for are the ones you personally commited?

Re: Germany's Wi-Fi Shortage Set to Ease as Merkel Backs New Bill

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think "gefahrgeeignete Dienste" could be translated as "services with potential for dangerous misuse", no?

Like serving a knife and a fork?

Or a room containing flammable gasses like Oxygen.
Post reply on HN