I'm all for open Wi-Fi networks but I'm not quite sure how it's a "tragedy of the commons". People locking their Wi-Fi network aren't harming other users of the RF spectrum, which is the common resource. The resource being locked out is the telco's backhaul, which isn't really a commons, is it?
The resource is internet access everywhere. Everyone benefits from open wifi, but any individual benefits by locking down their own wifi. So everyone locks down their own wifi, and nobody has internet access, and we're all worse off.
I'm not sure it's a tragedy of the commons per se, but it's a collective action problem of one sort or another.
RF isn't the commons they're talking about. The commons is the open access points that people would come by and torrent / download kiddie porn through. People abused open access points, so everyone started closing them.
