A number of Londoners gave up their eldest child during an experiment that was exploring the danger of public Wi-Fi use.
The users unwittingly gave up their eldest child as they connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot. Unbeknownst to them, the hotspot had been set up in June by a group of security researchers.
When people connected to the network, they were asked to accept the terms and conditions. However, within these terms there was a ‘Herod Clause’ which promised free Wi-Fi.
However, the free Wi-Fi came with a heavily-loaded condition, if “the recipient agreed to assign their first born child to us for the duration of eternity.”
Six people signed up for the Wi-Fi during the experiment, though the researchers were quick to point out that they will not be cashing in on the agreement.
“We have yet to enforce our rights under the terms and conditions but, as this is an experiment, we will be returning the children to their parents,” the company F-Secure stated in its report.
“Our legal advisor Mark Deem points out that – while terms and conditions are legally binding – it is contrary to public policy to sell children in return for free services, so the clause would not be enforceable in a court of law.”
The experiment was carried out in order to raise people’s awareness of connecting to public Wi-Fi hotspots. The research concluded that there needs to more education about the issue, particularly surrounding Wi-Fi networks of unknown origin.
