[AusNOG] OT? Council Public WiFi ACMA Liability

[John Edwards]

Hi Mark,

The AG's department considers that giving away wifi to the public in an outdoor environment makes the end users "customers", which means that a carrier somewhere needs to be responsible for their interception and metadata obligations.

The ACMA wifi loopholes also assume a "single area", which can be stretched to something like a Uni campus, but a council high street wifi deployment will willingly reach into multiple private premises. 

Wireless networks that allow roaming fit the definition of a mobile network as far as the telecommunications act is concerned.

Having a licenced carrier makes it pretty clear who is responsible and provides the council with an indemnity of sorts. It also protects the end user under the privacy provisions of the Act.

This is still a legal grey area as no-one has been prosecuted under these laws AFAIK, so the council are right to be concerned. The best advice you can give them is to seek advice from a lawyer specialising in telecommunications, as the usual property lawyers hired by councils have some weird ideas about who owns airwaves inside a boundary.

John

> On 3 Jul 2017, at 12:20 pm, Mark Currie <MCurrie at laserfast.com.au> wrote:
> 
> Hi Noggers,
>  
> Sorry if slightly,  OT, but not sure who else to ask for a quick answer/opinion.
>  
> Just had a question from a local council we are providing some Wifi kit for a semi public Wifi service (only within council buildings such as pool etc).
>  
> “A question was raised to us this morning in regards to the public WiFi tender and our legal grounds as a carrier based on the telecommunications act. 
> I'm a little dubious on it (If its actually a valid concern or not).”
>  
> Does anyone out there know what the liability of a local ouncil would be in relation to the act and the ACMA, and if they would/could be regarded as a carrier?
> 
> Thanks,
> Mark Currie
> 
> 
>  
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