The Mystery Of Free Public WiFi

Almost everywhere I travel, I see a Computer-to-Computer network listed call 'Free Public Wi-Fi'. Clearly that's not what it is (oh, and I can see it now, in some hotel in the armpit of Ohio), so I guess it must be some bizarre PC phenomenon that has lots of Windows users broadcasting an ad hoc network called "Free Public Wi-Fi". So, I'm just curious... does anybody know exactly what's behind this madness?

SeaBeast,
I assume your answer is well intentioned, so thank you for trying to be helpful.
In all my time of traveling, I have not seen a genuine wi-fi network called 'Free Public Wi-Fi'. Free networks in hotels tend to have some other name. The one I am using right now is called "hhonors4", for example - it's in a Hilton hotel. The "Free Public WiFI" I am talking about appears in the Mac's list of Computer-to-Computer networks, indicating is not an wireless access point at all, but another computer, and is therefore very unlikely to be a form of wireless access.
I've done some digging around, and it seems this is some kind of attack intended to dupe people into creating a computer to computer network, thinking they are getting free Wi-Fi access. On PCs, it's harder to spot that this is not a wireless access point (I understand Windows calls these 'ad hoc' networks and uses icons to distinguish them from WAPs). Given how many of these I have been seeing, there may be a virus at work, infecting PCs in a way that has them trying to create wireless networks called 'Free Public WiFi' without their users realizing it, for what purpose and at what risk I do not know.
There's an article that talks about this at:
http://www.scmagazine.com.au/feature/3233,airports--a-threat-to-identity-securit y.aspx
It makes a big deal about airports, but I have also seen these networks in other places (like this hotel), which makes me think it is not a deliberate act of the PC owner, but rather something that results from an infection. The article is not terribly conclusive.
This is different, but related to, honeypot attacks where wireless access points are set up, often at airports, with the deliberate intention of getting IDs and other data from unaware users. More about these at:
http://www.netstumbler.com/2004/02/16/wirelesshoneypottrickery/
So, I'm still trying to figure this out, and would love some definitive information from somebody who knows, but I'm pretty sure no one should follow SeaBeast's (presumably well intentioned) advice and actually connect to one of these networks. (I suspect PC users are the ones at risk, as few people bother to code virus for the less common Mac, but that's a risky assumption.)
Oh, and by the way, if you do connect one time, just to see what happens, your Mac will remember it and 'helpfully connect' you every time it sees 'Free Public WiFi' forever more, and without telling you. To solve that problem, you need to change your Network Preferences.
I'll keep researching away, but would be delighted if anybody who already has this mystery solved could post their findings.

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