Illegal to connect to private but UNSECURE Wi-Fi signals?
 

Man Charged With Stealing Wi-Fi Signal

Wed Jul 6, 8:15 PM ET

Police have arrested a man for using someone else's wireless Internet network in one of the first criminal cases involving this fairly common practice.

Benjamin Smith III, 41, faces a pretrial hearing this month following his April arrest on charges of unauthorized access to a computer network, a third-degree felony.

Full article

I didn't know that was illegal. If you don't want people on your network I figure you would secure it.

he'll get off if he didn't crack the WEP. open air signals aren't owned by the router owner, so if you decide not to be smart and leave ur new-fangled WiFi open to the public, it's public domain....

of course if he had went on, gotten into the guys computer and started deleting shit, that could also be a malicious act viewed as a crime

I would agree that illegal acts while on a network not owned by others should still remain illegal. But from what's in the article it sounds like his only crime is sitting outside in a van using free internet.

Sagi may I interest you in some banking?

http://www.nymalegigolos.com/teaser/bank.jpg

I guess it'll all be in how they argue it. Realistically, the person is paying for the bandwidth and the "service" and for someone else to just jump on board and use it... well, that's "stealing" part of their service.

But at the same time, as said... unsecured airwaves are free to anyone who can put them to use.

Just like it's still illegal to steal a car even if the keys are in it :)

I'm scared to find out what the withdrawal process is like. :1orglaugh

Since When? :1orglaugh

as long as you don't crack the WEP key your good to go


This is exactly what an unconfigured and unsecured Wi-Fi network does: it transmits readily accessible signals. The ECPA therefore makes it not unlawful to intercept or access this information (note that the term ?intentional interception? is used in the act).

http://www.usiia.org/legis/ecpa.html

I argue there is difference. If you steal a car you are taking ownership and use away from the owner. If you are on someone else's Wi-Fi you are making use of it.

its the "Deposits" you have to worry about :Oh crap

I got busted for watching a TV in my neighboors living room while walking on the sidewalk ... :error

Good point. It will be interesting to see how the courts settle this.

this guy is fucked.. its part of the Patriot Act...hacking into a network if they wanna throw the book at him he could get 20+ years

he can get more for doing this than killing someone

WOW, that's scary to think that the government would consider that hacking. Means every student that brings a laptop to Starbucks is a hacker. Arrest those HIPPIES!

ah, but starbucks would have a public service... you yourself said in the thread title that it was a private network that was accessed.

I don't want my money in good hands. :Oh crap

It's legal to scan for open networks, but illegal to actually use them...

Right it turned out to be a private network. But how would you know it was private or public? I would just assume that if you want it to be private you secure it. What if someone lives next door to a starbucks and people get confused and connected to the private network instead of Starbucks' network? Also what if you have a Wi-Fi card that just connects on it's own to the strongest available network?

how is it a private network when the signal is open for anyone to publicly access, theirs no breaking into the network your connecting to an open frequency, it you broke the WEP key and then connected to the network that would be considered breaking into a private network :2 cents:

Sitting at my desk right now I could connect to three wireless networks only one secure. As some have stated, how do I know which is private and which isn't but ignorance isn't a defense.

Plus....I'm not sitting in a van outside someones house. That was awfully blatant.

PS. to the Fed's, I'm using a cable modem.