Laptop user arrested for "illegal log-on" to house wi-fi
A man who was spotted using his laptop in the street has been arrested on suspicion of illegally logging on to a wireless broadband connection.
Two officers spotted the 39-year-old man sitting on a garden wall outside a home in Chiswick, West London UK.
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A man who was spotted using his laptop in the street has been arrested on suspicion of illegally logging on to a wireless broadband connection.
Two officers spotted the 39-year-old man sitting on a garden wall outside a home in Chiswick, West London. When questioned he admitted using the homeowner’s unsecured broadband connection from his position on the wall.
He was arrested and taken to Chiswick police station, where the case was passed over to the Computer Crime Unit of the Metropolitan Police. He was bailed to return on October 11 and faces a fine or a jail sentence of six months, or both.
The arrest is part of a police effort to focus on a crime that has come into existence in recent years, with the proliferation of wireless broadband.
Detective Constable Mark Roberts gave warning that anyone caught illegally \"hitching\" or \"piggy-backing\" on to another\'s wireless broadband connection could face arrest.
\"This arrest should act as a warning to anyone who thinks it is acceptable to illegally use other people\'s broadband connections,\" he said. \"To do so potentially breaches the Computer Misuse Act and the Communications Act.\"
Mr_Cheese
ghost 17 years ago
They could spend their time catching terrorists and murderers, but no. They arrest a guy for using his laptop, probably in his best interest.
It's not exactly causing a major inconvenience.
dami3n 17 years ago
Dunno why he just didn't cruise somewhere in a car and use it there. Or at least not make it bloody obvious. But yeah the police are retarded in the UK they think anyone with a laptop is a bloody terrorist. Shit happens tbh
ghost 17 years ago
To war drive, sue a homebrew PSP :) less suspicious. Then, come back in a car, and connect, when you have found/cracked a connection.
ghost 17 years ago
Skunkfoot: Looking at this from two angles, it's illegal.
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Just because the owner is paying the same amount either way (which we will just assume they are; assume they never come anywhere near their bandwidth cap), it does not mean it is legal. If a little birdy told you that a friend of a friend of your mothers cousin was going to be out of town for the week, and you went to her house and found she forgot to lock the door, would it be okay for you to go inside and live there for the week, because she's still "paying the same amount" for rent? I don't think so.
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You have to look at this from the business end as well. Broadband companies WANT, and NEED you to buy their service. If the laws did not exist as they are, there could be one connection for every three houses, because two houses could leach off of one between them. Does this sound fair for the ISP?
Strictly speaking, I don't think they guy should have been arrested for a little harmless play. However, I do think that the issue at hand, stealing internet over public air waves, is rightfully illegal. Maybe if we lived in a perfect society, these laws would not exist, and people could be more lenient, but you have to cater to the worst possible senerio when making the laws.
ghost 16 years ago
That reminds me of the apartment complex I used to live at. I was able to log onto about 15 different unsecured wifi networks almost all of which had default name and pass for the routers and lock people out of their own network then charge them to fix it. Since they usually had me come over when they were at work they had no idea how long I was there so I ended up charging 20 bucks just to hold the reset button on the router for 15 seconds. Ahh good times. :D
ghost 16 years ago
I think that the article is funny and if he was illegally using the connection that he should have tried to conceal it better then what he did!