On Wed, Jun 07, 2017 at 10:09:39PM -0000, John Levine wrote: > How many wifi networks regularly move from one continent to another? > You can probably count them on your fingers. We're not even a > rounding error, and we're not paying customers. Why should Maxmind et > al. spend money to build a mechanism to deal with us and networks like > ours? Well, it's said that conference/standards travellers often drop large sums of money at many fine dining establishments. And no one seems to have a problem when concierges get referral fees for suggesting restaurants to their clients. There may be more money in getting this geolocation thing as right as possible than you think. It is interesting though that if someone picks up a phone and says, "Hey Samantha[1], find a nice restaurant near me", and it does, (a) some people think it's creepy, and (b) some people think it's somehow dirty that the company that created "Samantha" might get paid for the referral just like a hotel concierge. [1] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798709/ Or does it cross the line when "Samantha" remembers that you've been asking her questions about molecular gastronomy and tailors the responses she sends back to you based on that? It's really fascinating to me that somehow it's OK when a Nordstrum's sales associate does basic research on his or her clients, or keeps a notes in their notebooks of their client's likes and dislikes, and the dates of their wedding anniversary, relative's birthdays, and suggests gifts for their client. Somehow *that*'s not creepy (in fact, some find it flattering, or makes them feel important), but when a computer does it, it's creep city.... - Ted