WiFi misuse prosecution/Polizei verbessert ihre Statistik

In London wurde (wieder) ein Mann verhaftet, der auf einer Gartenmauer saß und über seinen Laptop eine ungesicherte Internetverbindung mitbenutzte.

The Times reports that a man has been arrested for using a laptop in the street to log onto a wireless broadband connection. This is a breach of the Computer Misuse Act and the Communications Act.

Apparently the first conviction was in 2005. At that time a man had been seen in the neighbourhood before and a local reported him to the police.

When police examined his laptop, they discovered that he had logged on several times before. He was found guilty of dishonestly obtaining an electronic communication service and his computer and wireless card were confiscated, he was fined £500 and given a 12-month conditional discharge.

So if you see someone hanging around in the street, there are now more evil intentions to suspect them of.

LATER NOTE: The German American Law Journal blog takes up this topic from the US side. It links to an article in arts technica that shows the situation can be similar in the USA.

4 thoughts on “WiFi misuse prosecution/Polizei verbessert ihre Statistik

  1. Oh-oh, I wasn’t even aware of how serious this is. So whenever I ask a restaurant owner if they have wi-fi and they say, “no, but you can log on through others in the area”, I’m doing something illegal? Actually, it only happened once, in Amsterdam. I found it to be very strange that in Holland there are almost no coffee shops/ restaurants with wi-fi, and I hear the situation is similar in the States. In Tel Aviv it is very difficult to find a coffee shop *without* wi-fi. :)

  2. It sounds as if the police won’t catch you if you do it indoors – you have to be hanging around in a car or on a garden wall.
    OTOH I wasn’t aware that it might be dangerous to log onto other people’s connections.

  3. I am looking for a copy of this Bucksch dictionary ENG–>GER for a job I am currently working on. Would pay for all shipping (US or Canada only) plus a fee. Returned next week (22nd).
    ATA-member in good standing; reliable!

    Thanks for any pointers (I talked to Kater-Verlag, where I usually get my dicos; they can’t deliver this week.)

    Teresa

    • I posted this as a new (temporary) entry.

      I have no idea about the speed of shipping to you (I think Kater would be shipping from Europe?)

      If I were wanting to buy it, I would be trying the Building Centre Bookshop in London – but I’m sorry to say they only have one of his dictionaries, the geotechnology one. I have one on Bautechnik, pretty much unopened.

      But maybe someone across the Pond will see this.

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