Question Author
What's my responsibility - to secure my network? That's a new law I've not heard about. Where can I find that?
The car owner is 'presumed' to be responsible for the speeding offence. If he/she can show that (on the balance of probability), that someone else could have done it, it is then that the onus switches to the prosecution (the accuser) to prove (beyond reasonable doubt) that it is highly unlikely to have been anyone but me. Remember Neil and Christine Hamilton? Neil Hamilton was accused of speeding many weeks after the offence. He said, well it could have been me, but my wife often drives the car and it may have been her. I can't say I'm guilty If I don't know it was me - you'll have to show that it couldn't have been anyone else but me. The result? Not Guilty!
In any case, where is the evidence? If you are using my connection to download thousands of copyrighted MP3's, it's YOU that has possession of those MP3's, not me! So the car thing is not a particularly good analogy. Show me the law that says I'm responsible for you using my network to download illegal material and I'll do your dishes for a week!
As for the 'free' net access? I think you're splitting hairs. Of course nothing is 'free' - except perhaps the air we breathe (at the moment;-)). But we supply free services to students (tuition fees), the elderly (free personal care and bus passes), as well as legal services to the poorest. 'We' all pay for it, because they are deemed to be of interest to us all as a society. Incidentally, I think TV should be free!
The internet is a great leveller. It gives people the same access to information to those who live in rural areas to those who live in London or Glasgow. Rural citizens DON'T have the same access to paper information as those in the cities.