Use Wi-Fi, Go to Jail
At Networking Pipeline, Preston Gralla picks up on a bit of news from the Rockford Register-Star — local resident David M. Kauchak was given a $250 fine and a year of court supervision for using someone else's Wi-Fi network.
Kauchak was found sitting in his car, parked outside the offices of a local non-profit "in the wee hours of the morning," using their network to surf the Web.
Not to access the non-profit's files — to surf the Web.
Winnebago County State's Attorney (and local tough dude, apparently) Paul Logli says he got off easy. "Residents need to know that it is a crime, punishable by up to a year in jail, to access someone else's computer, wireless system or Internet connection without that person's approval," he says.
Gralla thinks that's a bit much. "I'm not a lawyer, so can't speak to the legalities, which are exceedingly complex," he writes. "From a moral standpoint, though, you shouldn't use the network without asking, just as you shouldn't walk into someone's house just because the door is open. But a $250 fine and possible jail time? That's going a bit too far."
A bit too far? $250 and a year of court supervision for surfing the Web? This is a new technology, and the legal and ethical boundaries are still being figured out, but that is waaay too far.