[TriLUG] hacking vs. using

[ALFRED JOHNSON]

There is a part of the FCC regulations which specifically cover what 
hams are allowed to do and likewise what they cannot do while using the 
frequencies which they are legally licensed to use. To make the answer 
to your question very simply, unless it is inadvertent we are 
prohibited from intentionally interfering with any other licensed 
operators. This is not to say that from time to time ham radio 
operators don't inadvertently interfere with one another. But the 
simple answer to your question is that I suspect that if a ham did what 
you suggested and PURPOSELY  interfered with any legal 802.11 users 
that he would risk getting reported by the "ham police" whom we call 
"OO's" (official observers who report violations which they hear on the 
ham frequencies). If you're interested in reading about these rules and 
regulations governing amateur radio all you need to do is to purchase a 
small book which has all the part 97 rules and regulations from the 
American Radio Relay League (they also have a website where you can 
read about these regulations). Keep in mind that these regulations are 
not cast in stone. From time to time the FCC will make modifications 
and clarifications in any of these rules as it sees fit. So if it isn't 
illegal now to do what you suggest, it could very well be changed. 
--73, KQ4FP--  Al Johnson
---------------------
On Oct 15, 2004, at 8:23 PM, Greg Brown wrote:

> Today I started to think about hacking 802.11 signals (this all came 
> up during a discussion of a 802.11 design in a joking manner).  
> Anyway, I was told "do not hack this network" buy the project manager 
> to which I responded "it's a public use frequency, I can do what I 
> want".  Obviously I was joking, because I am aware of laws against 
> hacking 802.11 specifically, but then I got to thinking about the 
> nature of public frequencies.  Does anyone, especially any of the HAM 
> crew, know about laws that state what you can, and cannot, do on these 
> frequencies?
>
> I believe that HAM users have priority over 802.11 users in the 2.4 
> Ghz range.  Therefore, I think, that a HAM radio operator could use 
> the signal in manner which could effectively cause a denial of service 
> attack for the 802.11 users (which there are laws against).  Can 
> anyone site a webpage with the laws about what, and cannot, be done on 
> these frequencies?
>
> At the very least it seems like the laws conflict each other.
>
> Greg
>
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