Posted by James on 4/17/2006, 11:03 am We've had a few stories in the past about people getting arrested for using someone else's WiFi, or even threatening to arrest people for simply using a cantenna. The latest such story, sent in by Steve, involves a guy in Illinois who was fined $250 for "theft of services" after a police officer spotted him sitting in a car, using the open WiFi of a non-profit agency in the middle of the night. David M. Kauchak, 32, a former Machesney Park resident, is the first person in Winnebago County to be charged with remotely accessing another computer system without the owner’s approval. He pleaded guilty Tuesday to the charge and was fined $250 and sentenced to one year of court supervision. The police go on about how you could get a year in jail for this. Again, though, it's not clear why this is a crime. If the guy were trespassing, that's one thing. However, if he's sitting on public property, using an open WiFi signal that went beyond the property boundaries... it should have been up to the agency to secure their WiFi. Also, there's no way anyone can claim any real loss in this situation. It was the middle of the night. No one else was using the broadband connection. The police are quoted warning others to beware that they, too, can get arrested and spend a year in jail if spotted using a laptop in a car. In another case, everyone was focused on the guy in Florida getting arrested for using an open WiFi connection, it turns out a similar case was already under way in the UK. Broadband Reports points out that someone has been found guilty of connecting to an open WiFi network and fined. From the sound of things, he could have been jailed for a year, but was let free under certain conditions. The actual crime appears to be: "dishonestly obtaining an electronic communications service and possessing equipment for fraudulent use of a communications service."
While many, many people still feel there's absolutely nothing wrong with piggybacking on someone's open WiFi, the police don't always agree.
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