Freifunk
Freifunk is a non-commercial initiative that is dedicated to the construction and operation of a free radio network consisting of self-managed local computer networks . In the German-speaking world, the initiative originated in Berlin. The goals include the promotion of local communication, the most decentralized structure possible, anonymity and freedom from surveillance . Freifunk is based on the Pico Peering Agreement , which is intended to ensure a non-discriminatory network (see network neutrality ). In addition to setting up the network, the Freifunker would also like to offer a medium to promote technical education.
organization
The Freifunk community is organized on a decentralized basis. Every private person who sets up a Freifunk router can and should freely dispose of the technical design. Operators that are geographically close to one another often come together to form user groups, local communities . This is due to the fact that the Freifunk is mainly based on WLAN technology and the individual router only has a limited range. The community serves the coordination between the individual operators necessary for networking, e.g. B. the agreement on compatible software. The individual communities therefore often also offer infrastructure and tools such as B. a router firmware tailored to the city or the district , radio links to bridge larger distances (over a river or less inhabited areas), possibly necessary central servers, or help interested parties with the setup.
In May 2016, over 300 such communities were known in German-speaking countries, some of which are organized as associations and thus offer their members a certain degree of legal security.
The individual communities then often associate with umbrella organizations such as the Förderverein Freie Netze e. V. or the Freifunk Rheinland e. V. These associations manage parts of the infrastructure that cause costs and higher organizational effort, but their use is also optional. So managed z. B. the Förderverein Freie Netze e. V. the web portal freifunk.net and offers various services such as hosted blogs for communities . The Freifunk Rheinland e. V. has organized itself as a non-commercial Internet provider and offers communities its backbone infrastructure in order to also take on legal responsibility (especially with regard to liability for interference ).
Free WiFi
Many Freifunkers share their network access with third parties via WLAN . Municipalities and cities use Freifunk to offer free WiFi in the pedestrian zones in the city center, or in squares, in parks and often in public buildings (town hall, tourist office, library, youth centers). Examples are Berlin and Erlangen. Churches often make their towers available for long-distance connections and for connection to routers in the city center and use Freifunk for their meetinghouses. Since 2015, for example, the technical relief organization has been equipping some of its properties with free wireless routers.
Since 2015, many accommodations for refugees have been equipped with Freifunk, as the Internet is an important contact point for these people with friends and families at home and a source of information on site.
Legal problems
Since June 2017, the operator of a free WLAN has been released from liability for legal violations by users. With the new law, the Bundestag wants to promote the spread of free WiFi. This solves the problem of “ liability for disruptors ” that used to lead to expensive warnings . Nevertheless, in June 2020, a seventy-year-old lady who was connected to a Freifunk WLAN was sentenced by the Cologne District Court to pay EUR 2,000 in damages .
- history
Due to the interference liability, which was valid in Germany until 2017, operators of an inadequately secured WLAN could be made jointly responsible for the actions of users of the WLAN. This could result in costs for the operator due to a warning . This uncertainty led to more and more WLAN access points being closed, for example in cafés or in public places. Back then there was the following solution to the problem: The Freedom Fighter Box given away by Freifunk is a ready-to-use WiFi router that forwards the data from the open WiFi to the Internet via a Swedish VPN provider. In Sweden there is no liability for interference.
Further actions against liability for interference began in December 2012 when members of Freifunk Rheinland eV were warned as a result of a Freifunk router that was not secured by VPN. Thereupon the association started the so-called Operation Störerhaftung , in which it collected donations in order to clarify the legal framework for Freifunk in a court hearing. The money collected was also used to support a similar lawsuit by the Free Networks Association .
technology
As in many other free radio networks, a so-called "mesh" method is also used with Freifunk. In a mesh network , the routers involved connect to one another using special software . If routers fail, this software automatically determines via which other routers the data packets reach the destination. In the case of Freifunk, this is Freifunk firmware, which is usually based on OpenWrt and other free software . There are many different implementations of the firmware that run with different hardware and protocols (e.g. OLSR and BATMAN advanced). The choice of software is made by the local community.
Often the data is redirected via a VPN tunnel to avoid legal difficulties . The rerouting takes place either via servers abroad, in which there are no laws analogous to the previous interference liability in Germany, or via servers of a Freifunk association in Germany that has provider privilege and therefore cannot be made liable in terms of interference liability.
If direct radio connections are not possible, the gaps are often closed by connections via the conventional Internet. Most communities within Germany are linked to one another via the so-called Inter-City-VPN, for example , in which data runs over encrypted connections so that no third party outside the free wireless network can view or manipulate the content despite transmission over the Internet.
history
In April 2000, Consume and free2air tried to set up free networks independently of each other in London . In the Consume Clincs workshops , agreements were made and rules were drawn up that should regulate communication among each other and across the region .
On October 12 and 13, 2002, as part of the Urban Drift conference, a workshop on free wireless citizen networks took place in Berlin and London under the title BerLon in the Berlin bootlab . One result of the BerLon was an agreement on principles for the development of free networks, the Picopeering Agreement . This describes how the transit of data via external devices is handled in a Freifunk network . Even during the BerLon, some of those present agreed to hold regular meetings in Berlin to set up their own free wireless network. Regular meetings were held at the Berlin c-base on Wednesdays until June 2020 under the name wavelöten . The meetings have been taking place in the House of Materialisation on Alexanderplatz since July 2020. At the same time, the foundation stone for the German-language web portal freifunk.net was laid.
In September 2003, some active people founded the non-profit association Free Networks e. V. to support free communication infrastructures ideally and financially.
The practical implementation of the idea in the form of easy-to-install software for commercially available WLAN routers contributed significantly to the success of the initiative in the years that followed.
In 2012 the Freifunker in Berlin received a lot of media attention with the Freedom Fighter Box project . This project was directed against the then applicable troublemaker liability , which the activists demanded to be abolished.
In October 2012 the Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg decided to support the construction of a backbone network for the Berlin Freifunk community with 30,000 euros . As a result, new wireless network locations have been put into operation since 2013, both on public buildings such as town halls, as well as on churches and private houses.
In February 2014, the Hamburg Citizenship called for “the inclusion of civil society initiatives such as Freifunk as a partner in the city's WLAN strategy to be examined and, if necessary, to be supported in setting up the network”. In the following years, “the acquisition and installation of directional radio systems from the Freifunk Hamburg initiative” was funded with 10,000 euros.
In June 2015, the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia decided to support free radio with parking spaces for radio systems on properties in the state. An information campaign should also be started. Cities and municipalities are to be informed about the advantages of free data networks and to be encouraged to cooperate with the local Freifunk communities.
See also
- FunkFeuer (for Austria)
- Openwireless (for Switzerland)
- Fon (from Spain)
Web links
- Freifunk.net website with wiki and forum
- Corinna Aichele, Henning Lahmann, Torsten Kleinz, David Pachali: WLAN for everyone - free wireless networks in practice . irights.info. January 13, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
- Freifunk connects! - a video by Philipp Seefeldt
- Flo Fleissig explains the free spark (with five short videos)
- Jürgen Neumann on the Kuechenradio.org podcast
Individual evidence
- ^ Pico Peering Agreement ( Memento from February 19, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ vision .
- ↑ Find a community .
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 15, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Freifunk in Berlin
- ↑ Freifunk in Erlangen
- ↑ Free Internet in and around our local association through Freifunk. Retrieved June 12, 2020 .
- ↑ Mike Maehlmann: New WiFi network in the Eckernförde local association. In: Technical Relief Organization - local association Eckernförde. May 15, 2020, accessed June 12, 2020 .
- ^ Freifunk Hamburg: Node map. Retrieved June 12, 2020 .
- ↑ Refugees are grateful to Freifunkern for WLAN | NDR.de - Nachrichten - Hamburg. February 2, 2016, accessed May 17, 2020 .
- ^ Lutz Kastendieck: Freifunkers help refugees. August 22, 2015, accessed on May 17, 2020 (German).
- ↑ "Freifunk" equips initial recordings with WLAN. Retrieved May 17, 2020 .
- ↑ Freifunk: Free Internet for Refugees - Golem.de. Retrieved on May 17, 2020 (German).
- ↑ TMG §8 - Telemediengesetz, section 3, responsibility (§§ 7-10), § 8
- ↑ Dana Heide: Abolition of liability for interference: Grand coalition agrees on WLAN law . ( handelsblatt.com [accessed June 26, 2017]).
- ↑ The old lady. Accessed June 12, 2020 (German).
- ↑ Mario Behling: Freifunk Freedom Fighter Box against liability for disturbers and warning delusions . June 15, 2012.
- ^ Kai Biermann: Berliner Verein gives away anonymous network access . In: ZEITOnline on the "Freedom Fighter Box" from June 19, 2012.
- ↑ heise online: With the Freifunk Freedom Fighter Box against interference liability .
- ↑ Press release on Operation Störerhaftung of Freifunk Rheinland eV
- Jump up ↑ Operation liability against warnings , Golem.de
- ^ Operation Störerhaftung , heise.de
- ↑ Freifunker defend themselves legally against Abmahner , heise.de
- ↑ Freifunk firmware - wiki.freifunk.net .
- ↑ Find a community .
- ↑ The Intercity VPN , freifunk.net
- ↑ Berlin: Encounter - wiki.freifunk.net. Retrieved July 2, 2020 .
- ↑ Freifunk. June 8, 2020, accessed on July 2, 2020 (German).
- ↑ Organization .
- ↑ New setup strengthens Berlin Freifunk network , Freifunk blog post
- ↑ Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg
- ↑ Free radio networks are the open channels of the 21st century . 19th October 2012.
- ↑ Freifunk Berlin .
- ↑ Berlin state initiative for free WiFi stockt , heise.de
- ↑ Citizenship of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg: Information from the President of the Citizenship: Citizens' request of February 27, 2014: "Report of the Committee on Economy, Innovation and Media on the subject of WLAN strategy for the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg" - Drs. 20 / 10860 . Printed matter 20/12094, June 12, 2014.
- ↑ Hamburg tax authority: grant transactions 2015-2017 . ( hamburg.de ).
- ↑ North Rhine-Westphalia supports Freifunk , Heise Netze
- ^ Application to the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia: "Freifunk in North Rhine-Westphalia: Expand and further strengthen citizen networks!"
