This is news a lot of cheapskates aren't going to like, especially the kind of cheapskates who routinely poach on other people's wireless connection. There's now a paint you can use that will block Wi-fi from going through walls and into the arms of another, unauthorized, computer user.

According to this tech blog, The University of Tokyo has developed a paint that is allegedly able to block radio frequency in higher spectra, where Wi-Fi and other, higher-bandwidth communications take place. Most Wi-Fi technologies operate at 2.4GHz; the Tokyo pain can reportedly block frequencies all the way up to 100GHz. A 200GHz-blocking pain is also in the works, according to this report.

Grumpy Wi-Fi owners might be rejoicing (presuming this stuff ever gets to the market, and isn't $100 a gallon). Likewise theater owners, who will surely be interested in squelching that pesky cell-phone problem once and for all (the paint also blocks in the lower frequencies that cell phones use.)

But I wonder what this does to the dream of free and unfettered Wi-Fi for all?