whocares
Premium
join:2003-07-26
..
| reply to alottabull
Re: for those that use "WIRELESS", this could happen to you
Coincidentally, the cafe owner that Peterson was leeching WiFi off of didn't even realize that what Peterson was doing was a crime at the time. Neither did the police officer. "I had a feeling a law was being broken, but I didn't know exactly what," Sparta police chief Andrew Milanowski told the TV station.
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the more i think about this the more that i am inclined to think, "this cop was looking to make an arrest on that day to impress someone or build their own ego, it would have mattered what a person was doing or did
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IF WE were all on the Titanic,and there was 1 life boat left,then i would be the man lowering that boat |
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alottabull
join:2004-09-04
Cen Tex
| reply to Camelot One
Good point. To be closer to the scenario I should have said they started the car and used my radio or something like that. It is hard to make the comparison but what I was trying to get out of it is if you leave things unsecured you expect anything to happen. Same with your internet access. If you choose to broadcast it out to everyone and don't secure it you should expect it to be used by anyone. I am not saying it is legal but there is not much that can be done other than an officer just happening to stumble upon some poor honest sap that admits it. |
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Camelot One
Premium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Sarasota, FL
clubs:
| reply to alottabull
said by alottabull  :Also think about this. If that man wouldn't have told him he was using the free wifi from the cafe the cop would have never known. Not to mention he wouldn't have the information needed to further pursue the case. If he had a suspicion he could notify the cafe and see if they wanted to pursue it but otherwise what is he going to do? I am not saying it is not illegal but if you are blasting the signal out to the world you should expect non-customers to use it. Otherwise secure it. Just like you said about the law, ignorance of the technology is no excuse. If you leave it open you get what you deserve. Just like if I leave my keys in my car with the windows down with a brand new $5000 stereo system in the bad part of town I will get what I deserve. I mostly agree, but analogies that compare physical goods theft to "theft of internet service" never really apply. If someone walked off with your stereo, you are out a stereo. If someone uses your unsecured wifi network, which you are already sharing freely with anyone who walks through the door, that is entirely different.
Everything else, I agree. Secure it, or live with the occasional freeloader. One quick and simple method would be to change the passcode daily, and print the days code on every receipt. Plenty of other ways to go about it. But even when someone uses your free-to-customers service without buying anything, you still haven't lost anything.
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Intel Quad Core QX6700 @3500Mhz/Asus P5N32-E SLI/4x 1024Mb Corsair/WD 74Gb Raptor/PNY 7800GTs SLI/Antec 550 True Control/Custom water cooler |
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alottabull
join:2004-09-04
Cen Tex
| reply to whocares
Also think about this. If that man wouldn't have told him he was using the free wifi from the cafe the cop would have never known. Not to mention he wouldn't have the information needed to further pursue the case. If he had a suspicion he could notify the cafe and see if they wanted to pursue it but otherwise what is he going to do? I am not saying it is not illegal but if you are blasting the signal out to the world you should expect non-customers to use it. Otherwise secure it. Just like you said about the law, ignorance of the technology is no excuse. If you leave it open you get what you deserve. Just like if I leave my keys in my car with the windows down with a brand new $5000 stereo system in the bad part of town I will get what I deserve. |
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whocares
Premium
join:2003-07-26
..
| reply to Camelot One
he was essentially piggybacking off of the open network without authorization.
in each case remember, Ignorance,(not knowing) of the law is no excuse.
all an officer or anyone has to do is walk by your car look in a window,see you on a wireless network,
in front a place that offeres free wireless to ITS Customers nothing says a police officer can't question you about something.
The arrest came about because Peterson apparently showed up to the Union Street Cafe to use its free WiFi from the comfort of his car, and he did so every single day. A police officer grew suspicious of Peterson and eventually questioned him as to what he was up to.
think about it, if you ran a bank & you saw a man show up in a car everyday & just sat there,but never came in wouldn't you become suspicious?
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IF WE were all on the Titanic,and there was 1 life boat left,then i would be the man lowering that boat |
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alottabull
join:2004-09-04
Cen Tex
| reply to Camelot One
I agree, it is stupid. I wouldn't worry about this at all. Just be smart and don't rely on another business' wireless as your sole access method to the internet. If you are out and about and use wireless from some business or some open wireless ap you aren't going to get busted. No reason to try to stir up concerns over this. |
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Camelot One
Premium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Sarasota, FL
clubs:
| reply to alottabull
Thats the thing that gets me. What are the chances you are going to run into a cop who not only knows how to check the router logs (assuming they have any) to see that a certain MAC address is on the network, and then also finds a way to justify checking your laptop's mac....without a warrant to do so? And for that matter, does sitting in a car using a laptop count as justifiable cause to get a warrant to find it's mac address?
In every one of these cases, the person charged was honest with a police officer about what they were doing, and they got in trouble for it. Great lesson there.
(I am not saying all cops are bad or jerks. It's a very small percentage that are, but they tend to be the ones making headlines over stupid sh$t like this.)
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Intel Quad Core QX6700 @3500Mhz/Asus P5N32-E SLI/4x 1024Mb Corsair/WD 74Gb Raptor/PNY 7800GTs SLI/Antec 550 True Control/Custom water cooler |
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alottabull
join:2004-09-04
Cen Tex | reply to Camelot One
No joke. If the guy just would have made up some other story the cop would never know that he was using his wireless. There would be no easy way he could tell. |
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Camelot One
Premium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Sarasota, FL
clubs:
| reply to whocares
It seems to me like this is a perfect reason to keep a cell card in your laptop case, even without active service, just in case some bored, head-up-his-ass cop wants to give you a hard time.
And lets face it, thats all this is.
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Intel Quad Core QX6700 @3500Mhz/Asus P5N32-E SLI/4x 1024Mb Corsair/WD 74Gb Raptor/PNY 7800GTs SLI/Antec 550 True Control/Custom water cooler |
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whocares
Premium
join:2003-07-26
..
| hello all,hope your having a good day,While i don't use a "wireless" computer or connection,since this city is just starting wireless available downtown.SOME MAY
but todays local news ran this story, and thought would pass it along to you right from the source,
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Michigan man arrested for using cafe's free WiFi from his car
A Michigan man is being prosecuted for using a cafe's free WiFi,from his car. Sam Peterson was arrested under a Michigan law barring access to anyone else's network without authorization, according to Michigan TV station WOOD. Since the cafe's WiFi network was reserved for customers, and Peterson never came into the cafe, he was essentially piggybacking off of the open network without authorization.
The arrest came about because Peterson apparently showed up to the Union Street Cafe to use its free WiFi from the comfort of his car, and he did so every single day. A police officer grew suspicious of Peterson and eventually questioned him as to what he was up to.Peterson,not realizing that what he was doing was (at least) ethically questionable, told the officer exactly what he was doing. "I knew that the Union Street had WiFi. I just went down and checked my e-mail and didn't see a problem with that," Peterson told a reporter.
Under Michigan's "Fraudulent access to computers, computer systems, and computer networks" law, Peterson's actions could result in a five-year felony and a $10,000 fine. However, prosecutors do not plan to throw the book at him, as they don't believe that Peterson was aware he was even breaking the law.
Instead, he will pay a $400 fine and do 40 hours of community service, and the arrest will not go on his record.
Coincidentally, the cafe owner that Peterson was leeching WiFi off of didn't even realize that what Peterson was doing was a crime at the time. Neither did the police officer. "I had a feeling a law was being broken, but I didn't know exactly what," Sparta police chief Andrew Milanowski told the TV station.
This is not the first time someone has been arrested for piggybacking on a WiFi connection. In 2005,
a Florida man
was arrested and hit with a third-degree felony for surfing an open WiFi network from his SUV. Similarly,
an Illinois man
was arrested in 2006 for, again, using an unsecured WiFi network from his car. He pleaded guilty to the charges and was given one year's court supervision and a $250 fine.
A Washington man
was also arrested in 2006 for parking outside of a coffee shop and using the open WiFi connection without purchasing anything. And just earlier this year,
an Alaska man
was arrested for using the WiFi network from the public library after hours to play games from—you guessed it—his car in the parking lot.
Whether or not you agree with the legality of using an open WiFi network without the owner's authorization, one thing is painfully clear: if you're going to leech, try not to do it from a parked car right in front of the building.
»arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20···car.html
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IF WE were all on the Titanic,and there was 1 life boat left,then i would be the man lowering that boat |
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