'Telecom Theft' or War-Driving? Toronto police muddy the Wi-Fi waters A Toronto Man faces charges after being arrested for "War-Driving" around Toronto neighborhoods, using unsecured networks to download child-pornography. Not only is the man facing the traditional charges, but Toronto police are charging the man with "telecommunications theft". Originally spotted over at David Akin's blog, he's also reported the story over at Canada's CTV. Ignoring for the moment the obviously illegal pornography charges at the heart of the story, can a user be charged for accessing the web via unprotected home hotspots? When War-driving gains exposure to the media, it's usually projected in a negative light; even if there's a clear difference between hacking into a network and walking through a wide open front door (Wi-Fi hotspot). Even Akin's article uses the phrase "cracking into a computer in a nearby home" when outlining the details. The debate over portraying War-driving in a negative light came up recently in forum discussion after two men hacked into the Lowe's corporate headquarters via one store's wireless network. War-Driving aficionados are quick to point out that War-Driving and Hacking/Cracking aren't interchangeable terms.
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 | | justice Serves him right. I wonder how you catch something like that though... | |
|  |  Jerm
join:2000-04-10
Richland, WA
kudos:2 |  He got caught by:
When Woods stopped the car, he noticed the driver, a man, was naked from the waist down. In the car was a laptop computer and on its screen was an image of a 10-year-old girl in a sex act with an adult male."
Moral of the story: Don't be a dumb@ss and try to j-off while driving the wrong way down a one way street.
They would have never caught him electronically. Wardriving itsself is a legal "gray" area, but even if it was illegal it would be nearly impossible to catch someone.
--
Want an OC3? Go to college! Washington State University OC3 MRTG | |
| | | | |  Re: He got caught by:
How could you track him down? Well a starting point is the media access controller network ID. At some point it was purchased from a wholesaler or retailer. May lead to nothing but that's one example of how you get that ball rolling. Ever seen the ham radio/ airwave police that drive around? Maybe not in the US but in Canada we have those dudes. They could evolve to monitor wireless internet traffic by looking for that tube of invisible data and see what/why/when/where (ad-hoc etc). That's the best part of wireless, its out there u just have to know how to get it  . Plus, do you honestly think the goverment would allow you to have a technology that they can't break into or know everything about? Ridiculous but in reality very hard to find that needle in the hay stack.
-T | |
| | | |  DaneJasperSonic.NetPremium,VIP
join:2001-08-20
Santa Rosa, CA
kudos:7 | Re: He got caught by: Note that many 802.11 cards allow you to change the MAC address.
-Dane | |
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| |  MaxoYour tax dollars at work.Premium,VIP
join:2002-11-04
Tallahassee, FL | You'd think the guy would have at least put the monitor down and slipped his computer under his seat. This guy clearly lacked any amount of common sense.
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Tall blond dark and mean Rough and tough and strong and leanhttp://www.maxolasersquad.com | |
| | |  SnickerdoPremium
join:2001-02-28
Niagara Falls, ON
1 edit | said by Jerm:
They would have never caught him electronically. Wardriving itsself is a legal "gray" area, but even if it was illegal it would be nearly impossible to catch someone.
Very grey area, especially in Canada. While downloading child porn is definitely illegal and he should be locked up for quite some time, war driving technically isn't illegal under the Radiocommunications Act. In fact, it's actually illegal for someone to encrypt their wireless network without a valid government license. Anything unencrypted that is passed over the airwaves is free for anyone to accept and use. You'll note that in Canada, listening to and recording analog cell phone conversations is quite legal. While what he was doing was disgusting and he'll end up in jail for the child porn charges, I highly doubt the theft of telecommunications charge will stick. That actual law governs wireline communications, not unencrypted, unlicensed, wireless communications.
--
In a mere 100,000 years, a blink of the eye in geological terms, 90 percent
of the earth's life disappeared.
Yes, I CanChat. Can You? | |
| | | | Reviews:
 ·3 Web
| Re: He got caught by: said by Snickerdo:
said by Jerm:
Anything unencrypted that is passed over the airwaves is free for anyone to accept and use.
Not quite.
The Radio Secrecy Act stipulates that for non-commercial stuff
1. We can't profit from the contents
2. No divulging the contents to third parties.
--
"Our criminal institutions are full of little creeps like you who do wrong things, and many of them were driven to these crimes by a horrible force, called MUSIC" Frank Zappa, Joe's Garage | |
| | | | | SnickerdoPremium
join:2001-02-28
Niagara Falls, ON | Re: He got caught by: said by WallyThacker:
Not quite.
The Radio Secrecy Act stipulates that for non-commercial stuff
1. We can't profit from the contents
2. No divulging the contents to third parties..
Can't profit from the contents is correct, but there is MUCH more to the third parties clause. Like I said, I can record an analog cell conversation in the 800MHz band and post it on the internet legally. It has happened before, and the federal government outright said there was nothing they could do so long as it didn't make any money off the website.
In fact, a search for the Radio Secrecy Act returned no results. You can easily get the entire contents of the Radiocommunications Act online. I have never heard of the Radio Secrecy Act before, and neither have any of my hamming friends. News to me.
--
In a mere 100,000 years, a blink of the eye in geological terms, 90 percentof the earth's life disappeared.
Yes, I CanChat. Can You? | |
| | | | | | | | Re: He got caught by: said by Snickerdo:
said by WallyThacker:
Not quite.
The Radio Secrecy Act stipulates that for non-commercial stuff
1. We can't profit from the contents
2. No divulging the contents to third parties..
Can't profit from the contents is correct, but there is MUCH more to the third parties clause.
Hmmm, wonder how news agencies get around not being able to divulge police traffic (since they report traffic incidents and respond to fire and hostage situations) and make profit. | |
| | | | | | | | | Re: He got caught by: Police, ambulance, fire and so are licensed as commercial. Different rules apply. | |
| | | | | | | | | | Re: He got caught by: Not in the USA, they are licensed as public safety, not commercial. | |
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| | | Re: justice said by PhragX:
Serves him right. I wonder how you catch something like that though...
I don't know how they knew his was going to child porno sites, but some routes can show you the Mac addresss that's being used on the network.
Now I don't know if the cops caught him in the act, or if someone noticed their connection was getting slow and logged into their router and checked some of the stats and logs.
--
Lord Please Murder My Enemies, BURN'EM AT 1000 DEGREES!!!!!!!!!!! | |
| | | | | Re: justice Yes some routers will show the mac addy... but the common joe out there dosnet know what to look for... think of this.... Broadband in the Portland area is on the rise, like other areas of the us... but lots cable and dsl popping up.... As i hear about friends and what not getting the new internet connection I talk to them about firewall and protection... Most are ignorant to it... Most I find are just connecting to the www to do some surfing and thats it. They basically walk to computer and expect it to work correclty and connect ...let them download what ever they want recipes... news... yahoo sites... and then their done. They never think of the security issue. Further more even some of the "computre friends" I have still dont know how to open ports or enable or check logs on there routers... so you have to know what MAC addy is and most seem to not know or care... | |
|
|  GoogledYay, I have FIOS
join:2001-08-13
Orchard Park, NY
1 edit | Hope they throw the book at him for the child porn. I doubt that telecommuncations theft will stick, but it was probably was added on to make his bail higher. | |
|
 Unit649I B U, Who U B?Premium
join:2000-01-22
Stockton, CA | Blah.... No matter how he did it, downloading child porn is just plain bad-I hope this guy gets locked up for a while, not for the wardriving, but for what he was actually doing with it.
--
U ::::Founder, ForeverChat IRC Network :::: »www.foreverchat.net | |
| |  bistro777Donuts-Is There Anything They Can't Do?Premium
join:2002-02-07
Englewood, CO | Re: Blah.... From a couple of articles on this - -
“…the driver, a man, was naked from the waist down. In the car was a laptop computer and on its screen was an image of a 10-year-old girl in a sex act with an adult male. A warrant was obtained, a search was executed, and a large amount of material was seized and taken to Toronto Police for further investigation. Walter Nowakoski, 36, has been charged with possession of child pornography (two counts), accessing child pornography, distributing child pornography, theft of telecommunications, and making child pornography.
“We seized 10 computers . . . and hundreds of CDs and floppy disks," Det.-Sgt. Paul Gillespie said. "Right now, I would say we are looking at hundreds of thousands of images." Gillespie said it will take 20 to 40 hours to forensically examine each computer, but so far, investigators have been exposed to some of the worst child pornography they've ever seen. "Right down to very young children and babies," he said.
Toss him in prison with “Big Bubba” for a few years...
”Nobody ever made a great mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little.” - - Edmund Burke | |
| | |  TheMetrixR.T.F.M. - P.E.B.K.A.CPremium
join:2002-06-15
Utica, MI | Re: Blah.... I say toss him in jail with Big Bubba. Also let Bubba in one what this sick pervert has done. That should get him some special attention from Bubba and his friends. | |
| | | MaxoYour tax dollars at work.Premium,VIP
join:2002-11-04
Tallahassee, FL | I'd hate to be the cop in charge of scanning this guys computer. Gross. | |
| | | |  DSLDUDE6Got The Folding Farm ItchPremium
join:2002-01-07
Norcross, GA | Re: Blah.... said by Maxo:
I'd hate to be the cop in charge of scanning this guys computer. Gross.
My father worked for US Customs for about 25 years. He was one of the few that had the "displeasure" of cracking these worthless slimeballs computers...
You could see it in his eyes. My father never cries, but the sights he saw on those computers destroyed him.
There is NO punishment great enough for people that look at/perform in/use child porn. If there was something, I'd doubt it would be something that could be written out in public...
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»www.fnort.com | |
| | | | | stridr69
join:2003-05-19
San Luis Obispo, CA | Re: Blah.... Actually, what I'd like to C is this:
You're convicted for 6 months, at Folsom Prison(CA). However, YOU will be placed in the "general population" area of our fine institution-and EVERYONE here will know why you're "visiting" us for 6 months...
Oh, by the way...Have a nice stay...
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| | | | AGREED.... Dad told me long ago when discussing punishment with my children, "Punishment should fit the crime"... and just because you put them in jail thats not good punishment... the old idea of sitting in time out to think about what you did dosent work with all people... Now I almost believe that we should pay BUBBA to welcome the newcomer to the jail/prison, you know a little welcome aboard party... he he he | |
|
 ObdHPremium
join:2003-06-11
Litchfield Park, AZ
1 edit | bs wardriving isnt a crime | |
| | | | Re: bs This case will be a classic case of bad facts making bad law. If it was a business or a student in a restaurant (without wifi) using an open portal to check his/her e-mail, do you think the charges would be brought?
If even rudimentary security was used, it would be a different story, but many people openly don't care if you use their internet for that purpose. Compare the movements sprouting up in NY and Frisco for community shared internet access. (Verizon's bad neighbor policy notwithstanding). | |
|
 xdeadhead220, 221, Whatever It Takes.Premium
join:2000-11-08
Mechanicsburg, PA
2 edits | i read a related article earlier this week... the man was nude from the waist down. --
lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine. | |
| | | | Re: i read a related article earlier this week... Also apparently driving on the wrong side of the street at five in the morning.... | |
|
| | is it illegal (will i get caught) Is it illegal to download mp3 on p2p from neighbors house???
dont want to use my own so RIAA wont bug...
but since there is an open WI-FI next door can i use it?
how about the free municipal WI-FI in Long Beach CA city for mp3's? | |
| | | | Re: is it illegal (will i get caught) if it is copyrighted, it is still considered piracy. The RIAA won't know you downloaded it, but the neighbour - so - you had best hope he doesn't know you are doing it. It's like borrowing his screwdriver and not saying,.. or using his water main to water your grass. | |
| | |  spgGrrrr
join:2001-10-31
NOT Texas! | Re: is it illegal (will i get caught) It's no different than "borrowing" your neighbor's lawnmower while he's off on vacation; it's theft. Bottom line: the service belongs to someone else, not you. I totally agree that he's asking for trouble by not securing his network, but car theft is still theft if the owner left the keys in the car. | |
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| MaxoYour tax dollars at work.Premium,VIP
join:2002-11-04
Tallahassee, FL | It's especially illegal when you are using someone elses equipment to do something else that is illegal. If you online actions were to get traced down it would be traced down to him. He would be the one having to file the legal defense.
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Tall blond dark and mean Rough and tough and strong and leanhttp://www.maxolasersquad.com | |
|
| | My thoughts I don't have a problem with war driving as long as nothing illegal is done with the open access point and an attempt is made to inform the owner of the problem. I DO HOWEVER HAVE A PROBLEM WITH CHILD PORNOGRAPHERS, I hope this guy gets nailed, literally, in prison. Maybe he will realize what it is like to be on the recieving end of sexual assault.
--
I do not hate xor love Windows, I hate and love Windows... That's why I can laugh about Windows and still use it. | |
|  Doctor FourMy other vehicle is a TARDISPremium
join:2000-09-05
Dallas, TX |  Recent story on this on a local news station
CBS11 TV, a local station in Dallas, a few days ago. A
reporter for the station went driving around the city
with a security expert, and found almost 100 unsecured
wireless access points in about 2 hours. The full story
can be found here.
--
"Kayura or Badamon, whichever you are, you should know that I will never give up this battle. By the will of the Ancient, I shall succeed!" - Shuten (Anubis) from the Ronin Warriors. | |
| MaxoYour tax dollars at work.Premium,VIP
join:2002-11-04
Tallahassee, FL | Waterspout If you aren't doing anything wrong I don't see a problem with it. If your neighbor left his hose on with nozel head at the end would it be wrong to get a sip of water? But if you were hosing down passing cars or doing something ridiculous then someone needs to knock some sense in to you.
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Tall blond dark and mean Rough and tough and strong and leanhttp://www.maxolasersquad.com | |
| |  damonlabPremium
join:2001-05-02
Detroit, MI | Re: Waterspout I accidently downloaded child porn one time. It was supposed to be a college girls gone wild type of thing, but it wound up being something that I never wanted to see. I immediately deleted said material, and then I called the FBI. I told them what happened, and gave them the log of the address. They never contacted me again, but I hope they caught the person. | |
| | | MaxoYour tax dollars at work.Premium,VIP
join:2002-11-04
Tallahassee, FL | Re: Waterspout I new someone who had that happen. They just deleted it. | |
|
grantjePremium
join:2003-05-07
Kokomo, IN | My two cents.. I think that war-driving, or any other type of access to a connection that has been left open, is and should be legal. However, downloading porn over an open connection is questionable at best. Downloading child porn over any connection (whether one the downloader bought themselves or one the downloader finds open) is deplorable, and should be illegal. | |
| | | Evil People | |
| | Reviews:
·Comcast
| Re: Evil People said by Anonyggyy56:
The Guy Should be Castrated for looking at such stuff. No less than that.
this guy needs more then castration. they need to find out why he has this problem and hopefully help to find out what causes it so we can rid the planet of it. Then castrated and thrown in a prison cell with 60 "big bubba's" and let him feel the wrath of what it's like to be abused.
These types of people need to be taught a lesson so that this crap don't ever happen to another kid. I hope they trace down the places he got it and all. Get all the bastards.
--
This package does not contain a winner... | |
|
donaldkPremium
join:2000-10-19
Thunder Bay, ON Reviews:
·Eastlink Cable
| Stealing the WIFI now telco theft?.... LOL!!!! He better have a damn good lwyer to fight that Telco-Theft charge. The fact that he was looking for child-porn using someone else's WIFI who surely would not consent to that, (aside: the PD could just look (not USE!) for the WIFIs on the street where this idiot was on and canvas especially to the 'soccer mom' type families), will make it pretty hard to toss that telco-theft charge which is good cause it'll net him at least a few years behind bars. The Toronto PD is just throwing the book on him cause child porn is just WRONG regardless if WIFI was involved or not! | |
|  TransmasterDon't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY | Pig This is what drove me off of KAZAA I was looking for some
Kay Kaiser Bigband stuff and after I downloaded a bunch of it I found out when I opened it that some pedophile had hidden his files there. It took hours for my shredder to clean my Hard dive of these files I had the
shredder go over them three different ways 10 times each.
There was Phish Bassist Mike Gordon. He was arrested on child endangerment charges after being found with a nine-year-old girl in a secluded boathouse during a concert by the Dead in Jones Beach, New York. His story was he was taking "Art Photos" of the girl. What this pervert didn't know was She happened to be the daughter of a Hells Angel and he and his boys found him and preceded to beat the garbanzo beans out of him until the cops showed up. I hope the cops didn't hurry to arrest him.
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I love Irish Terriers, Low Brass, and the electric blue glow of an 866 mercury vapor rectifier tube at night. | |
|  gwionwild colonial boyPremium,ExMod 2001-08
join:2000-12-28
Pittsburgh, PA
kudos:1
1 edit | If you walk through my unlocked door... ... and use my phone, you stole my phone service. If you use my network because I left it unlocked, you abused my network and stole my bandwidth. Why aren't they interchangeable terms? If you know it's a private network, of course... Assuming that you do, then you're cracking. If someone uses the internet to steal my bandwidth over a copper wire, the fact that there was no firewall at my gateway (fat chance, but assume, for argument's sake) doesn't constitute a welcome mat. Why should accessing it via wireless communications, in a deliberate and knowing fashion, be taken one bit differently?
It's called "bandwidth theft", at bare minimum. I steal your electricity, I get arrested. I tap into your phone line and make calls, I get arrested. I hook up my house to your water meter, I get arrested... I crack your (conventional) network, whether I have to get through a defense or not, and steal your bandwidth, I get arrested. So it simply follows, I crack into your wireless network, even if I don't have to breach any defenses to do it, I stole bandwidth and should be arrested. The operative concept is using the bandwidth you paid for without permission. Doesn't matter if I'm at LeeringUncleErnies or MotherTeresa.org, it isn't my network, and I used bandwidth you pay for, and trespassed on hardware that belongs to you. Far as I see it, long as I knew what I was doing and kept doing it, that's cracking and/or theft of services in a nutshell. Simply put, there's a difference between a public portal and a private network... that's an apple - orange argument. Mistake as to whether it's public or private is one thing, but knowing use of someone's private network without consent should be illegal. Otherwise, if you knew having one made you a "public portal," why on earth would anyone but a public access provider... ever... want to... (scratches head quizically) have one... at all???
--
Even when you feel like your life is fading
I know that you'll go on forever
You're that good... | |
| |
See 6 replies to this post | |
 Augustus IIIIf Only Rome Could See Us Now....
join:2001-01-25
Gainesville, GA | hah He was stopped for going the wrong way on a way one street, then found half naked, --- to a kiddie porn image on his computer which the cop could clearly see...
case closed. this is not about war driving or bandwidth theft ok. all these are there concidentially occuring at the time someone is busted on pornography and indicent exposure counts. *
scary sure, funny, hell yeah.. bizarre? that takes the monthly cake in my book.
* i am sure they are now going to use this wacko's case to show that people are in fact war driving with such evil intent and will push for strict laws. classic example. | |
| | | | Re: hah said by Augustus III:
* i am sure they are now going to use this wacko's case to show that people are in fact war driving with such evil intent and will push for strict laws. classic example.
The real shame in this is there are going to be more restrictive laws against war driving, when most war-drivers have very strong ethics and do little more than just gaining access.
--
I do not hate xor love Windows, I hate and love Windows... That's why I can laugh about Windows and still use it. | |
| | | | | Re: hah when you broadcast your network to the public it becomes just that - public. Remember, YOU have the transmitter and sent your signals on a public street. Just like once you put your garbage out for delivery in the street, anyone may pick it up.
Now if your network is encrypted and I try to hack it, that should be illegal as you obviously have attempted to make your data private.
Photographers may take pictures in public (just look at Celebrities Uncensored).
Actually, I feel that I have a right to airwaves FREE of electricty, radio waves, microwaves and etc. They give me a headache. Sort of like secondhand smoke..and we're winning that battle... | |
|
| |  Theft
Should the porn people be arrested as well | |
| ratgod
join:2004-01-07
Niagara Falls, ON | people should show if they want their node open I have recently set up a wireless network and I've put the WEP encryption, and only allowed the MAC address of my laptops WiFi adaptor on since i dont want people using my network.
I will however open it once I feel I have my internal network secured but I'm going to add some sorta code on the SSID to allow people to know I welcome "light" usage.
Other people should do this,
I went for a ride the other night taking the laptop and over a 6 mile trip i found no less that 20 open nodes and only 2 encrypted nodes (which were the only commercial nodes).
I feel that if you leave the airwaves open with no encryption that its a gesture of goodwill to use it lightly, but not excessivly or for illegal purposes. | |
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