Fon Technology SL said it has secured 18 million euros in initial financing from Skype, the popular Web-based calling company now owned by eBay, Google, and venture capital firms Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital.
These backers offer legitimacy for Madrid-based Fon, whose goal is to create a block-by-block network of shared wireless links around the globe, by turning users of local Wi-Fi access into an army of “foneros,” or people sharing wireless access.
Fon is a wireless incarnation of peer-to-peer technology that was first made popular — and controversial — by the pioneering online music-sharing service, Napster.
As the company’s name implies, Fon would allow users of not just laptops, but also mobile phones or the latest portable gaming devices — anything with a built-in Wi-Fi link — to share wireless connections offered by other Fon users.
Does this make the Telcos who will oppose this — “antifoneros”?
Open WiFi…now there’s a malicious hacker’s paradise!! I mean, c’mon people how safe can it be to open up your WiFi to anybody who comes along? In theory, the idea of open wireless is excellent. Unfortunately, in this world of ours, it’s just not safe to do so. I sure as hell am not going to open up my WiFi…but to each his own I guess!
Security is a concern for all. I use VOIP which seems to have sound security (no pun intended). Next upgrade to my home/office will leave me with a spare computer which I’ve thought of dedicating as an email/VOIP/Bit Torrent server. I suppose I could isolate it from the rest of my network and use it as FON suggests. Sounds like something worth keeping tabs on anyway.
Ultimately, you still have to have a certain amount of bandwidth, and someone has to pay for this. It seems to me the telcos want people to have this wifi sharing. That’s why their routers come with wifi on by default. The sharing leads to more bandwidth being used, and more money for them when eventually people get used to it and they can get governments to pick up the tab, just like sports stadiums.
The DSL and Cable providers do not want people giving away service they can sell. They want you to be able to share the connection with your other PC, not your neighbors.