Crispin Cowan wrote:
> ... or a case of an innocent party being harassed by clueless or
> embarrassed law officers when said party reveals the insecurity of their
> WiFi config :) Unfortunately I can't find the link just now, but a
> couple of years ago, an independent network consultant happened to be
> around the court house somewhere in Texas, and noticed an open wifi
> node. He noticed that it was the court house's wifi. He informed the law
> of this vulnerability, and they arrested him for his trouble.
>
> No offense intended to law officers on this list, who likely have a much
> higher level of clue, and would thank the person instead of arresting
> him or her.
no offense taken
>
> AFAIK, the law is rather untested on whether it is actually illegal to
> surf on an open wifi network. It seems to vary based on intent and
> activities, i.e. it likely is illegal under existing wiretap and
> computer break-in laws to use open wifi to break into someone's network.
> OTOH, there does not appear to be any law against connecting to
> someone's open wifi to just get some free Internet access.
actually, there is an Oregon statue:
164.125 Theft of services. (1) A person commits the crime of theft
of services if:
(a) With intent to avoid payment therefor, the person obtains
services that are available only for compensation, by force, threat,
deception or other means to avoid payment for the services; or
...
(2) As used in this section, “services” includes, but is not
limited to, labor, professional services, toll facilities,
transportation, communications service, entertainment, the supplying of
food, lodging or other accommodations in hotels, restaurants or
elsewhere, the supplying of equipment for use, and the supplying of
commodities of a public utility nature such as gas, electricity, steam
and water. “Communication service” includes, but is not limited to, use
of telephone, computer and cable television systems.
...
note there is the issue of intent, so if you think
you are connecting to your wifi access point, and
inadvertently connect to your neighbors', you really
aren't at risk.
>
> Caveat: I am not a lawyer, and haven't actually fact-checked any of the
> above, it is just what I remember over the years from reading on line news.
>
> Crispin
>
--
======================================================================
Warren Harrison, EIC/IEEE Software Magazine warren@private
Department of Computer Science http://www.cs.pdx.edu/~warren
Portland State University PHONE: 503-725-3108
Portland, OR 97207-0751 FAX: 503-725-3211
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