JiWire: First Conviction Handed Down for Wi-Fi Freeloading
From: JiWire.comHot on the heels of our stories about Wi-Fi freeloaders and how to avoid them, comes the first formal conviction of a person piggybacking on an open Wi-Fi network without the owner's approval. David Kauchak was caught in the middle of the night sitting in his car accessing the Internet through a Rockford, Illinois non-profit agency's Wi-Fi net. After pleading guilty, he was sentenced to one year of court supervision, and fined $250.
It's interesting to note that Kauchak was not accused of using the network for nefarious purposes or breaking into the non-profit's computers, but simply using the network without permission. The violation was also not based on the principle that freeloaders are stealing from the service provider (as with cable TV bandits). The implication was that if Kauchak had had permisson to use the network, he would have been fine. However, most DSL and cable modem end-user agreements specify that you can't share access or provide public access, so the first conviction on those grounds has yet to appear.
What does all this mean for home network owners and independent hotspot providers? Home users now have some recourse if people are stealing their bandwidth, although local statutes vary. More importantly, hotspot providers (free or paid) should make sure they have business-level Internet access that allows them to operate a hotspot, or possibly face severe consequences.
Labels: David C. Price
posted by DAVID C. PRICE at 4/02/2006 11:03:00 PM
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2 Comments:
It's a most ridiculous ruling in my opinion. I know my Powerbook for instance is set to pick up the strongest signal automatically. Lots of time when I am at a "public hotspot" there are three or four wireless networks in the area. What if my Powerbook grabs the wrong one? And I still remember going over to a friend's apartment one time and simply opening my Powerbook and I didn't realize I was connected anywhere until I saw I had new email. One of my friend's neighbors had an unsecured signal.
The laws need to reflect that if a wireless connection is unprotected, it's fair game to anyone who connects--or at least they shouldn't be held liable. That would put the responsibility on the owner of the signal to secure it.
Mine's secured by the way.
I agree with you. Mine is secure as well. I suppose this could mean that before long that will have to be the standard in order to protect us from being fined by our ISPs in the future (as it seems that may be where this is heading).
The danger that I see is that if ISPs begin to crack down on this and begin licensing businesses for public hotspots (unless that is already the case?), it could mean the end for free hotspots.
Also, cafes may end up having to do like hotels already do and provide a password to its customers to prevent those "unauthorized" from piggy-backing on. Perhaps someone else has more insight into this than I but this may be a bad development in the long run.
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