Florida man arrested for “stealing” unencrypted WiFi signal
Xeni Jardin:
Police in St. Petersburg, Florida have arrested a man who used a neighbor’s OPEN wireless network. It’s the first criminal case of its kind. Look, I know it’s not quite this simple, but — an open network? Perhaps next they’ll arrest folks for having the audacity to walk down the street and breathe their neighbors’ air. Boing Boing buddy and nerd color commentator Wayne Correia quips, “Quick US — amputate Florida before it spreads to other states!”
Benjamin Smith III, 41, faces a pretrial hearing this month following his April arrest on charges of unauthorized access to a computer network, a third-degree felony. Police say Smith admitted using the Wi-Fi signal from the home of Richard Dinon, who had noticed Smith sitting in an SUV outside Dinon’s house using a laptop computer.
Link (via unwired, thanks Hal Bringman)
Here’s a dumb question for all you lawyerators out there: If the wireless access point / router used by the “theft victim” was shipped with open access as a default, couldn’t the accused “wireless thief” sue the living crap out of its manufacturer?
