May 29, 2007
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Stealing Wi-Fi
Oh crap!! We are all in trouble now.
A man from Michigan was fined $400 and forced to work 40 hours of community service for using Wi-Fi internet connections while sitting in his car. He was using the Wi-Fi from a local cafe. Police say he got off easy. The maximum penalty was $10,000 and five years in prison.
Some feel that the sentence is harsh when the Wi-Fi is a broadcast and airwaves just go out to the general public. Here is the link: Link
Should it be illegal to access Wi-Fi when the airwaves are broadcast everywhere?
Comments (117)
Eh, maybe.
Oh jeez! First!
nope
no way
It greatly annoys me when my internet comes to a grinding hault and I realize it’s because half the other people in the complex are using my access, despite password protection.
I would say using others’ internet access is indirectly stealing, therefore it should be illegal. Though, I would think that punishment is a bit harsh.
Absolutely not.
That punishment is WAY too harsh. Wi-Fi should be free.
No. Don’t make it public then.
No.
Well, you can think of it this way…Isn’t the cafe contaminating your air with their Wi-Fi?
Does he have to pay for using the Wi-fi while in the cafe? Because if it’s free that’s just ridiculous.
Nope…open access is just that!
If someone leaves it open, then no.
Maybe a little… but then again, you’re using someone else’s connection. Isn’t it basically the same as stealing cable?
NO WAY they’re the one not locking it in the first place! Why can’t people just share stuff like this
Carrboro, NC, (the town next to mine) has free wireless all downtown, set up voluntarily. That’s how things should be run.
if you are concerned about people using your wifi access, lock the wifi
Uh, no. It’s easy to put passwords on Wi-Fi access. If they want to make it exclusive just make a password for users.
absurd the goverment is enforcing the fact that these people were unwilling to to encrypt their wi fi.
No it should be free because nothing is free free just means to got a tax aper to pay your bill for you. But the goverment should not be prosecuting people twho simply used that which was willingly put out on the public airwaves to be used. It is the same as prosecuting a trespasser, when the land owner did not even put up a fence or sign
No.
wi-fi should be free in all areas of the city. if it’s open access, it’s OPEN.
no.
no!
no! everyone does it… its like saying “hey! im gonna fine you because you breathed in my air! my own personal air!”
Only if it should be illegal to watch television that is broadcast over the air.
I think people should just make the wireless password protected and avoid the hassle. If it’s not password protected, it should be considered a courtesy not to use it, not a law.
Until you have to pay to listen to the radio it should not be illegal.
Crap, I just gave them an idea…
oooooooo… no.
Why didn’t he just go inside the cafe?
No. It’s easy enough to secure a wireless connection — easy enough, actually, that an insecure connection is a tacit agreement allowing anyone to access the network.
Especially if you’re a business. If your network is insecure, then it’s your own fault.
it’s not exactly 100% IL-legal to listen to somebody’s phone conversation if they’re on a cell phone or cordless phone, so i’m actually surprised. the guy shoulda gotten a better lawyer, the cafe should’ve been smart enough to have their wi-fi locked and the police should’ve shut up. (they use loop holes like that all the time for their benefit.)
i was talking about this the other day with a friend of mine. while the “signal” is broadcast on open air and therefore, free game, (much like sitting outside a theater to listen to a concert.) you are using up the bandwidth. which is the cafes bandwidth. as to the “stealing” this is where it has merit. though i would argue that the precedence of cafes and coffeeshops that have free wifi access for the public, that there is no merit to this case. now if he had specificly gone out of his way to overcome their security measures and hack his way into their access point. yes, definately.
abandonbliss brings up a very good point as well. making this conviction stick would seem to set a precedence that accessing/intercepting wireless communications is illegal, which would mean that any evidence gained from, or as a result of intercepting a wireless signal would be inadmissable in court as it was obtained through illegal means. but then again, since when did the government ever hold itself to the same standard of law it holds its citizens to?
Absolutely not.
This town’s police have too much time on their hands, or the town is running low on tax revenue.
if its not free in the cafe then yeah….he is stealing…. i hate it when people from my unit steal mine…. but i have ways of dealing with them…hahaha.
I think it should be free, technology should be shared and not limited only to a few. I know a city near us is going completly wi-fi for everyone in the city, and now mcdonalds and libaries are posting signs saying they have wi-fi. I can see it being bad if you’re overloading the connection not allowing the owners to use it or people who pay for it, still I thought it was a little much to fine him and force him to do community service.
WHY doesn’t that cafe have a protected network??? If you don’t want it stolen then put a lock on it….sadly it’s what has to be done
haha when my wireless goes out i always steal it from my neighbors. it’s so easy to pick up from your computer, that’s why you put password protection on it.
Hell No!!! If wi-fi signals are all around, it’s insane that a person can be arrested for using it in his car. That’s another step towards Communism.
You’ve got to be kidding me! That’s almost like stealing air.
No. It’s open to the general public so let the general public use it! Simple as that.
it is so easy to protect it is hideous to have ppl get in trouble for just sharing. what are they stealing, ya know? no one is losing anything. i am using wi-fi right now. hope i don’t get arrested.
That is completely ridiculous. You can secure your wireless if you have an issue with it. I cannot believe tax dollars were used to prosecute this case.
What a useless gesture. If you have an open wireless network…
IT’S AN OPEN WIRELESS NETWORK!
For crying out loud… this was a dumb one.
your starting to remind me of paul harvey on AM 820.
except.
younger version.
NO WAYY!!!!!!
Wi-fi connections are easy to secure, if you’re not taking the simple precaution of encrypting your connection there shouldn’t be much punishment for those who piggy-back. Now if he were breaking encryptions or stealing people’s info, then that’s more serious.
hahahahahahaha! i’m so going to jail…
about 15 networks overlap where i live and if you don’t protect i so steal!
uh, no. if it’s free and not password protected, you’re pretty much asking for other people to use it. now, hacking into password protected network should be illegal.
amanda
If they’re so worried about it they should password-protect their network. Not difficult at all.
$10,000 + prison? Um, yeah. That’s way too harsh.
i’m hijacking wifi right now thank you
Only if it’s difficult to use, I.E. you have to break in and steal it. That’s why when someone takes your home connection it should be a crime, but with something like a cafe with it’s “Whoever’s there” thing, it’s kind of hard to work with and should just be legal
with all these ridiculous laws do you wonder why other countries think that the usa is silly? now i’m being polite as i can be without using nastier words.
No
All I have to say about that stort is….. THIS IS SPARTA, Ill and we want our DANG WI-FI for FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! so totonigt we DINE in HELL or maybe just that restaurant that has free wi-fi access!
LOL
I know I’ve gone mad. Summer break is close at hand. Thank God
why didnt he just say he was typing a paper or something?!??!!???!!?
He was actually ingenius then.
I wish I had a laptop, then I could rule the world, one Wi-Fi at a time.
YES! Unlike a radio station who can sell advertising to recoup their expenses, WIFI can not. It costs a minimum of $10,000 to install WIFI in a small establishment. The support fees are ridiculous and the additional costs to maintain the system are also off the charts. Merchants offer WIFI as an incentive for customers to frequent their establishment and purchase their product. To sit in ones car and use WIFI without even entering the establishment is paramount to theft. This dough-head should have got the maximum.
The problem the cafe had with the guy was that he didn’t actually buy anything from there. If he had been a patron, they wouldn’t have cared.
I gets really confusing when “Free Wifi” signs are so common nowadays. It’s so easy to pick a connection up and go.
First, I cannot possibly keep up with you. You are one mad postin’ individual. And I mean that in the sweetest way!
Second, your pulse for today is a real pick me upper there! Thanks for that! lol
Thrid, I didn’t know that WAS illegal! (WiFi thingy stuff) Must be the below average in me though! lol
I love stealing wi-fi.
If the person, or business, isn’t encrypting their signal it should be fair game. After all the radio spectrum is “public airwaves” and uses the same basic idea.
S’kinda retarded.
If its open access, its open access.
they could have used a password and not had this problem.
no….it’s like saying “i’m going to arrest/fine you for breathing air/flower fumes (i don’t know what they are called.) that was on my property. even though it was leaving out toward the public side walk, I’m still getting you.”
nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
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..no?
yeah- it’s like stealing cable. stealing some of your neighbors milk. its stealing.
its taking something you didn’t pay for from unwilling participants.
if they don’t have protection on it its their own fault
it’s easy enough to put a password on it. No, it shouldn’t be illegal.
its like saying “hey! im gonna fine you because you breathed in my air! my own personal air!” 5/29/2007 5:24 PM elli_monkey
LOL
Cheap …….! He should have gone in the cafe and had a cup of coffee (and many refills), much much cheapter than $400.
uhm … no.
free Wifi let me keep in touch with my boyfriend when he was in California for a month, before tour.
It’s cheaper to send an e-mail than talk on the phone. PSP for the win!
ooooooooooooo—–you said “crap!”
if the cafe was providing it for free to those sitting inside…no. but if the customers had to pay a fee to get on, or the fee was built into the price of their lattes….then maybe. but this is coming from the guy who when i worked as a security guard would jump on the wi-fi network from the apartment complex next door.
no, wireless fidelity is counted as a service if its broadcast freely… you can’t condemn a man for WNRing (wireless network recon) a wi-fi connection… thats like saying you cant go swimming in a public swimming pool… actually, its even more like saying you cant go swimming in an unowned lake…
When you first setup your Wi-Fi connection, you’re given the option of having users input a password to prevent random people from using your service. If you don’t give it a password, anyone has access to the connection. It is not illegal in the state of California to access someone’s Wi-Fi connection that isn’t password protected because you are given the option the option to protect it.
It doesn’t say in the article whether or not the Wi-Fi was password protected or not. If it was, he should be held accountable. If it wasn’t, the owner of the cafe should be kicked in the nuts for bieng such a douche about who uses their connection!
Makes no sense to me….
Whaaaat no way. o_o That’s crazy!
No – as long as you are paying for an internet connection, you should be safe from prosecution when using a free Wi-Fi. If the shop was so concerned, they should have password protected their connection.
If the cafe people cared about that at all, they would password-protect their Wi-Fi. They could make you type in your receipt number or things like that, just like libraries make you put in your card number.
But to be on the safe side, I”m going to go in and buy a cofee or a pack of gum mto make sure I’m a “customer” and can use their internet. Or I could just go home and do whatever.
Okay, I just had an idea. What if the county/state governments just had Wi-Fi broadcast to the general public all the time? Sure, taxes would go up to pay for it, but why the hell not?
NO!!! HELL NO!
If you dont want people to use it…lock it up! Just like you dont want people living in your house, so you put a lock on the door, same thing to Wi-Fi.
PS – I often steal Wi-Fi. And it’s awesome.
Even though when I literally think it is stealing, I don’t think it should be illegal. If someone doesn’t want to share they can simply add a password to their connection. If they don’t, it’s their own stupid fault if someone shares.
The guy must be thinking how unlucky he is, because i bet he is not the only one making use of the wi-fi ‘illegally’. I guessed this is one of the draw-backs of wireless technology, other people besides the ones buying for it can leech onto it too. But the main pt is i think that if one do not take the effort to somewhat protect this property (The Internet access) by setting passwords/limiting access/etc, you should expect people besides yourself to be using the Internet along with you. It becomes more of a public good when everyone can gain access to it.
Bottom-line is, i don’t think it can be too much of a legal-or-not issue, since the police won’t be able to take note of the so many similar cases along this line. It is only a handful among the many who get caught anyway, and this is only when the owner of the Internet realised and reported. In all ways, this is almost like music off the net, illegal but everyone is doing it.
that’s stupid, was this at a place that offered free wi-fi?
Oh man, i’m actually “stealing” wi-fi right now. If its in they air and public, yeah we should be able to use it. If you don’t want other people accessing your signal just put a password on it, its that easy.
thats dumb if it is public access from the cafe… maybe they should not do wirless internet and have cable if they are worried about people taking(stealing) bandwidth.
or maybe they should have hourly passwords that are on the coffee cups when someone buys coffee!!! ha ha, that would be so horrible but funny if they really did that!
Daniel (doubledb)
I’m going to say no. Wi-Fi has saved my life more times than one.
That’s what security on the wifi is for.
If it’s illegal to steal satellite signals, why would it be okay to steal Wi-Fi?
Yes I got a R1000 ($150) phone bill from someone piggybacking on my link. Thats a third of my salary
WOW so many thing we can get in trouble for! at least it wasnt’ the death penalty! too much.
They could prevent use if it such an issue to them. If they do not put controls on the access then it should not be against the law
After reading the article I think the police are bored in Sparta. The cafe did not even register a complaint it was soley the police chief who pursued it. The person did not even know about the law which has only been on the books since 2000 and is mainly to keep networks safe from hackers
no they should find a way to limit it inside the cafe if they have a problem
Okay, that would basically be like putting something free on the outside of a store, and hoping no one one grabs it.
I don’t get it… did the cafe offer free wi-fi? Or was it locked? If someone “breaks in” to a password-protected connection, that’s one thing. But if someone’s paying for wi-fi and not locking it somehow, that’s sort of their own stupidity.
Absolutely not, that’s ridiculous. Don’t we have more important things to worry about?
if you dont secure the network it is your own fault when it gets used.
how do we control the invisible? i think that’s a bit silly to fine people like that- if the public is truly concerned about the cost perhaps local governments should include a wireless tax to the local citizens and give tax returns to the businesses who own the wireless networks.. it’s an idea…
Can’t you secure or unsecure your wireless network so the ‘general public’ can use or not use it?
Why? Thats so stupid?
Wi_fi is meant to be free.
no wtf thats probally the funniest thing ever. most places let peopel use their wi-fi for free anyways
No. If they’re so concerned, they should just put a password/username scenario for the network and be done with it.
I don’t think it should be illegal. Near where I live is an internet cafe that people go to alot just for the use of wifi.(they don’t mind you using it)Why would it make a difference if he was sitting at a table or at a computer ?
Heck no, it’s broadcasted all over the place… if they don’t want people using it then they should get better protection.
First copying songs is considered stealing, then sharing wi-fi airwaves… Soon people will start getting arrested breathing in oxygen made by someone’s private garden!
NO!!!! That’s ridiculous!!!
as long as he was not driving….
I think we should just grid the United States with free Wi-Fi, like Oregon.
It should be illegal to hack into one, but if it’s out there and not protected at all, it should be legal.
Wi-fi should be free and legal, especially if people are too lazy/careless to secure their wi-fi connection. THere is nothing wrong with using a wi-fi connection when there are hotspots.
It shouldn’t be illegal. A person should only be fined if the person using the free wi-fi is doing something illegal. Other than that, anything else is fine. They are being too harsh on the poor fellow.
Using open and unsecure wi-fi connections is legal. Its free and out in the public to use. This is idiotic.
MIT is working with the city of Cambridge to make ‘open access’ wi-fi available to anyone. I like it.
no if you don’t want people useing your network Block it. I share mine with my neighbors
WHY do people always have to push the law into it!? if the officer had just said “did you know that what you are actually doing is illegal?” then he would have been like “no sir, i wont do it again” and probably wouldnt have. im sick of this.
haha no way, they gotsta control they shit if they don’t want pepo takin it. if i put my bike in the street it’s fair game if you put your intarwebs in the street it’s fair game byatch.