Thanks for the story, Jack!
This is a very positive technical development. Alternative communication and networking channels bypassing the ISPs altogether hold a great promise for filesharing and p2p. This kind of truly decentralized infrastructure is very hard to control by any vested interests, and it is easy to imagine new kind of file and stream sharing networks developing into densely populated areas as Jack suggested.
Much of what applies to decentralized p2p networks in general would also apply to Wi-Fi networks. To build secure personal and group relations you would need permanent and verifiable identities and encrypted communications, and you would also need some basic protection mechanisms against hostile nodes. But it would be a great advantage to not have your connectivity (and the disclosing of your real world identity) at the mercy of your ISP. Good stuff for us, bad stuff for the copyright nazis!
- tg
