Comments on: Wireless Internet on Planes

By: BenA

BenA — Fri, 17 Dec 2004 03:37:14 +0000

Last year, in a great example of its ability to create “solutions” for non-problems while ignoring actual problems, my state’s legislature (Oklahoma’s, that is) passed, and the governor signed into law, a measure against so-called “drive-by porn” (love the term), i.e. people watching pornography in motor vehicles. Worth noting that at the time both houses of the legislature, as well as the governorship, were in Democratic hands (though this brilliant measure was largely dreamed up by Thad Balkman, a GOP State Rep so odious that Toby Keith actively raised money for his Democratic opponent this year).

By: Matt Weiner

Matt Weiner — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 17:41:57 +0000

Was the driver watching the porn? That would be complaint-worthy. I remember sitting in Temple Plaza in Salt Lake City, reading Alasdair Gray's 1982 Janine, and hoping no one looked over my shoulder.

By: Tom Bozzo

Tom Bozzo — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 16:54:09 +0000

The system (Connexion by Boeing) used by Lufthansa allows airlines to filter web content. I’d be surprised if some filtering weren’t used.

By: Brett Bellmore

Brett Bellmore — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 15:47:29 +0000

Sounds like more of a display technology issue than anything else; There ARE display types that are visible only to the user.

By: Tom T.

Tom T. — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 13:39:00 +0000

There have been a couple of news items lately where a passing driver sees a pornographic scene playing on a portable DVD player in another car (and then complains about it to the media or the local authorities, who seem vaguely horrified yet perplexed). That’s a little bit different situation, though, I suppose. Whether or not it’s justified, a person in a car probably feels a level of privacy that an airplane passenger does not.

By: Kieran Healy

Kieran Healy — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 13:06:05 +0000

Gaah, yes of course. I’d forgotten about WPA passwords. Bastards.

By: nick

nick — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 08:52:51 +0000

On the upside, this is one amenity that they’ll have a hard time restricting to first and business class. You think so? Hotels and airports already do a good job of restricting wireless access. Give complimentary WEP/WPA passwords to those in first/business class, and force those in steerage to go through a pay-to-play system.

By: Jacques Distler

Jacques Distler — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 08:02:07 +0000

Umh, here in Austin, where just about every café, deli, or oil-change place has free wifi, the ugly problem of laptop pr0n in public places does not seem to have arisen. Of course, it's possible that

The boredom of waiting for an oil-and-filter change does not compare with the boredom of a long plane flight.
Since even our "gentlemen's clubs" have free wifi, the issue may just not have come up for ... ahem ... other reasons.

By: Kieran Healy

Kieran Healy — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 03:40:27 +0000

Dunno. There have been some issues with people driving along the interstate at night watching stuff on their in-minivan video screens.

By: PZ Myers

PZ Myers — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 03:18:40 +0000

Is it illegal to view pornography in flight? I don’t understand why this would be an issue. It’s crass, but if crassness was a foul business class would be shut down.

By: Kieran Healy

Kieran Healy — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 03:12:26 +0000

True, true. I wonder if the instant internet gateway will make it more likely, though, as opposed to having to pack your pr0n ahead of time.

By: Nicholas Weininger

Nicholas Weininger — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 03:06:18 +0000

People can already view previously-downloaded porn on their laptop screens, or read porn mags, or watch porn DVDs on those portable DVD players designed for flights. If wireless Internet porn were really going to be such a problem, you’d think one of these things would already have caused that problem. Of course, maybe they have and I just haven’t heard about it.