 PDXPLT join:2003-12-04 Banks, OR | reply to calvoiper
The article ignored one thing ... There have been people arrested for this type of thing for "unauthorized access to a computer system". The article didn't mention this aspect at all; 'kinda treated using your neighbors' wireless access as something cutesy, like taking the morning newspaper sometimes from their driveway.
I don't know how those arrests ended up, but at least in some locales, the officials don't take them lightly. |
 calvoiper join:2003-03-31 Belvedere Tiburon, CA | Yeah, yeah, twice over.
I've seen the story about two guys being arrested for using an unsecured WiFi hotspot at a "big box" retailer in Minneapolis or someplace about 35 times.
What everybody forgets to mention is that the reason they were pursued, apprehended, and charged was that they used the access they got to hack the financial transaction systems of the retailer and stole using that method. The "unauthorized access" charges were just gravy added to the mix--but sensationalistic media hypers ignore or obscure that aspect.
To further the analogy--somebody probably has been charged for trespass for borrowing the porte-cochere of a building as shelter--but only in the context of some greater crime they committed there, like vandalism, robbery, burglary, or theft.
calvoiper -- VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! |