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Betreff:
[German] Federal
Government warning about WiFi |
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Von: Tom Unrelated, Susan Clarke, Bill
Bruno |
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Datum:
Sun, 5 Aug 2007
23:45:28 +0200 |
WIRELESS NETWORKS
[German]
Government warns about Wi-Fi
Wireless networks for home use have been advertised extensively
and as a result are popular. That should change, if people take the advice of
the [German] Federal Government: WLAN-nets [Wi-Fi] in private households should
be avoided, says the government in an answer to a request from the Green Party.
The crucial
sentence in the answer of the government, which might raise questions among
home wireless users and infuriate the industry, reads: "The Federal
Government generally recommends keeping personal exposure to high frequency electromagnetic
radiation as low as possible, which means choosing conventional cable links if
possible, where ever radio-based solutions can be avoided."
In other words: The [German] Federal Government thinks that the beautiful
wireless world, in which people sit down with their laptop on their knees, as
seen in
countless advertising spots, is too dangerous.
WLAN-routers: A greater risk than cable networks?
The Green Bundestag faction had posed 14 questions
to the German government, under the heading "radiation
dose from wireless internet networks". These were about
planned studies on electromagnetic radiation and
health, measures to reduce the radiation dose, and
wireless networks at schools. And included the question: "what
precautionary measures are in place in the [German]
Federal Government and/or in other European Union
states to keep the population's burden from WLAN as
small as possible?"
The European Union's plans
are unknown, says the response, in addition to the above cited sentence. That
sentence is probably based on a similarly worded
recommendation of the German federal office for
radiation protection: It also takes the view that
one should be a little more cautious, even if
there are no indications of adverse health
effects of mobile telephony and WLAN-radiation.
As with mobile phones, no final evaluation yet
The Green's inquiry already
says that even though "the present state
of science provides no proof" that a health risk exists "below
the
legal limits for effective radiation power". "However just as with
mobile phones, a final evaluation has not yet taken place."
This view is now obviously
also that which the
[German] Federal Government takes: although there is
no concrete evidence for harmful effects of mobile
radiation, and there are some studies which show that alleged
radiation victims suffer from their fear rather than
from the radiation, the government wants to warn the German
citizens against purchasing the widely praised WLAN-routers
for home use.
At the end of 2006, the Bavarian
state parliament published a
recommendation to state schools to avoid WLAN-nets as far
as possible. Also this recommendation agreed with the views of
the Federal Office for radiation protection.
In 2005 more notebooks and
laptops were sold in Germany
than desktop computers. Most of the portable computers
contain a factory installed WLAN-card [Wi-Fi].
(c) SPIEGEL ONLINE 2007 all rights reserved
duplication only with permission of the SPIEGELnet
GmbH
To the topic in the Internet:
Bundestag: Answer of the Federal Government to
the w-Lan inquiry http://dip.bundesta g.de/btd/16/061/1606117.
w-Lan inquiry of the Greens Bundestag faction
SPIEGEL ONLINE - 01. August 2007, 16:11
URL:
http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/