* The 'Case of the Wi-Fi Bandit'
The “Case of the Wi-Fi Bandit” in Florida, discussed in the July 20 issue of this newsletter http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/wireless/2005/0718wireless2.html?rl, would be fascinating for a moot court to tackle. It’s a first-of-its-kind case with plenty of grey areas. And readers of this newsletter, at least, have many and varied opinions.
To recap, a fellow in an SUV was arrested on third-degree felony charges for tapping into a residential wireless LAN. As yet, it’s not clear exactly what the alleged thief’s intent or activities were. The charge is “unauthorized access to a computer network” and carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison.
I maintain that an association with an access point across unlicensed airwaves by itself isn’t a crime. These airwaves are owned by the government, not the homeowner, and made freely available to anyone using certified equipment. In this case, an unsecured signal seeped off the 802.11 equipment-owner’s property and into the accused’s property (his SUV).
However, from there, prosecution for theft of private information, copyrighted content or even unauthorized use of the ISP network is on the table, in my opinion. That’s why I enjoyed hearing from Craig, who notes that it can be difficult to distinguish between a residential homeowner’s access point and one intended for public use. Says Craig:
“So this particular case seems to come down to intent. Was it the intent of the person in the van to get free Internet (or worse) from a private resource or did he just stumble on a hot spot?”
Several readers also pointed out that the masses aren’t physicists. Many wireless aficionados in chat rooms seem to feel people who don’t secure their networks “deserve” to be intruded upon. But Randi, who helped educate her neighbor on wireless security, notes:
“Most consumers know nothing about 802.11 and think RF cannot reach neighbors’ homes…So the lawmakers need to get educated, as do the consumers (and salesmen).”
Adds Kristy: “Wireless is going crazy in the residential sector and it won’t take long for someone to really exploit it….The main players in consumer wireless (Netgear, D-Link, LinkSys/Cisco) should automatically put some kind of encryption on their APs and routers [rather than leaving networks open by default]. We’re going to see more of these stories and the FCC better step up to the plate and define what is and isn’t acceptable for RF.”
