Reply to: Man arrested over wi-fi 'theft'

[EternalOptimist]

Reading your book from the light coming from someone's window
.

Brilliant, now thats what I call an analogy.
Here's my next attempt.

There's this bird right. She earns her living by flashing her boobies, a sort of stripper right. Now she's walking along the street and her left booby flops out of her top.
This bloke is sitting on the wall right. He has a laptop and hacks into someones unsecured wifi and googles for 'strip joints and dogging sites'


No hang on a minute, thats not right.
Damn this analogy malarky

[wxman]

Reading your book from the light coming from someone's window


When you connect to a wifi access point you ask for permission, and depending on what the access point has been told to do, you are either granted permission or not. Thus if the access point as been setup to grant permission to everyone, you are entitled to believe you are allowed to use it.

[wxman]

From the BBC

...are they going to prosecute someone who stands outside a bakery warming their hands? It is like watching someone else's firework display."

[NickFitz]

BTW everybody, he wasn't in a car, he was sitting on the garden wall.

[Andy2]

if it's considered a theft how the heck are they going to recover stolen goods

[r0bly0ns]

[EternalOptimist]

Don't think so, becuase the 'owner' of the signal didn't intentionally give it to the 'thief'!!!


Personally I think the 'owner' is a fool for not securing his network, but this does not excuse what the 'theif' did.

I just don't think anyone has come up with an apt analogy yet.....

OK this blokes got a house right. In the Back garden is a big apple tree with enough apples to feed his family ten times over. So he doesnt need all the apples.
One falls off and rolls through his unsecured fence. This guy is in the neighborhood looking for a free lunch. The guy hooks up his laptop and hijacks a wifi connection to google for 'free lunches' when all of a sudden.....


No hang on a minute, this analogy lark isnt as easy as I thought

[r0bly0ns]

But the 'thief' didn't reach into the house.

The Wi-Fi signal was sent to him in his car....

So if he was sitting in his car and you left your house and took him your phone, which he then used, that would be the closest analogy!!!

Don't think so, becuase the 'owner' of the signal didn't intentionally give it to the 'thief'!!!


Personally I think the 'owner' is a fool for not securing his network, but this does not excuse what the 'theif' did.

I just don't think anyone has come up with an apt analogy yet.....

[gables]

I am trying to work out exactly which law this chap has broken

....

As a parallel would I be breaking the law if I (standing outside on the street) listening to music that was coming from a house through an open window??

...

In this case the house owner would be breaking the law for making a public broadcast of music, assuming that is they didn't have the neccessary license. I can't remember which one it is, but we had to have one in our shop even when listening to the radio.

[daviejones]

But the 'thief' didn't reach into the house.

The Wi-Fi signal was sent to him in his car....

So if he was sitting in his car and you left your house and took him your phone, which he then used, that would be the closest analogy!!!

[Swamp Thing]

My ha'penny worth:

The bloke wot got caught: He should get a life and a 3G card. Talk about nickel and diming...

The law: This action is typical of the low-hanging fruit mentality pervading our police force. They focus on easy stuff (e.g. speeding, litter-dropping, and now unsecured Wifi), because it's an easy nick, looks good on their score sheet and their careers. Difficult stuff (e.g. rape, murder, theft, GBH, fraud) is not focused on, in case the bobbies get hurt, or because there's too much paperwork involved, or because they don't have the funding to focus on the important stuff.

Great message for the law-breaking minority: you will get away with some stuff because we can't be bothered/don't have the money/your case looks too difficult to process.

[wxman]

But the 'thief' didn't reach into the house.

The Wi-Fi signal was sent to him in his car....

Agreed - this I why I think that the chap will get off ...

[r0bly0ns]

But the 'thief' didn't reach into the house.

The Wi-Fi signal was sent to him in his car....

[NickFitz]

"reaching in through the open window of my house"

I would guess that that would be tresspass as I would have to come on to your property in order to do that - if you ran an extension lead from your house and had the phone on display on the street then you "are offering a service" - which I would take!

For a terraced house with no front yard (i.e. 95% of houses in my neighbourhood) and the window open you could stand on the pavement.

[wxman]

"reaching in through the open window of my house"

I would guess that that would be tresspass as I would have to come on to your property in order to do that - if you ran an extension lead from your house and had the phone on display on the street then you "are offering a service" - which I would take!

This I feel goes deeper than simple obtaining an internet connection dishonestly as I would not have to do anything dishonest in order to obtain a conection - for example giving false names or bank account details.

The lawers are going to have a feild day with this one - and I think that the "internet thief" will come out on top.