Man Arrested for Mooching Neighbor's Wi-Fi

Article 8 paragraph 12 of fcc laws say that it is legal for me to pick up anything i want on the airwaves that is not secure. A man may have been arrested in michigan, but it never went to court and was dropped, and he is also suing for false arrest. I don't care what they do in england; i haven't the slightest idea of european affairs, nor do I care. I know the laws here say it is LEGAL to piggyback an UNSECURED connection.

Come on big brother don't we have better things to do with our law inforcement.

Marc (and others who think it doesn't slow down connectivity when others use your WiFi):

My boss is a technical lead for a major company, and when she is doing certain projects I have to "watch" my WiFi usage so she has the fastest connection possible. If I am just on a Web page it's fine, but if I were downloading music, movies, documents or games, or if I were playing a game or watching a movie/TV show, it could drastically slow her connection.

If you times that by the amount of people using your WiFi, it could really effect your ability to use your Internet to its full potential.

i have no pity for anyone who says it slows their connection down. I piggyback and it's a nice and fast connection. If they don't encrypt it, it's not my problem. I didn't ask for it to come to my house, but as long as it is there i will continue to use it. article 8 paragraph 12 of federal communications corportation law says that i have the right to pick up whatever is being broadcast over the airwaves and that's a fact. If you don't like it, too bad, secure your connection then.

I pose this comparison to all you people that think using unsecured wi-fi is illegal. You walk past an open-air music theater while a concert is being performed, and you are able to hear the band playing. Since you are not actually in the open air theater as a paid audience member are you considered a thief because you are listening to the music without paying? I think not!!! But, if the concert were in an enclosed theater and you broke in or planted a microphone in the enclosed theater to hear the music then you would be breaking the law. The open theater is unsecure and is susceptable to having people outside the theater listening to the music for free. If you do not want people using your wi-fi then make your network secure as I did!!!

I have been piggybacking since i got this laptop, I would personally go and tell the police that i do it IT IS NOT AGAINST THE LAW IN THE UNITED STATES, in michigan a false arrest lawsuit is going on because of that. I'd hope they'd arrest me, I'd sue and be rich. The law guarantees that you have the right to pick up any signal you want over the airwaves. Like it or not.

Lets say you have an apple tree growing in your yard. If an apple falls off that tree into your yard and I go around and pick it up without your permission would I be stealing? You bet!
But what if that tree hangs over the fence into my yard and an apple falls off that same tree into my yard.. Am I stealing that apple that falls into my yard just because you planted and water that tree?

HAHAHA true true . . . this is the best comment yet!!

I will no longer steal my neighbors wifi. Instead I'm going to have them arrested for trespassing, assault, breaking and entering..whatever I can. I don't want your signals in my house..YOU HEAR ME!!!! Get them out now!!!!!

It is a sad day when someone gets arrested for something this stupid. Does this make sense at all? I had a fellow co-worker rat me out telling my boss that I use someone's Wi-Fi. I wasn't hacking anything, nor was I doing anything wrong. I was actually bidding on work related equipment on Ebay and checking my e-mail. My co-worker disguised himself as my friend and was jealous that I had a lap-top and he didn't. Unfortuantly I had to buy a Sprint broadband card for $70.00 a month and ask a supervisor if I can bring my laptop to work. The bottom line is, co-workers are not your friend and nothing is free.

OK, all you guys who are willing to share your WI-FI with me, give me some addresses.

I want to download some music, and let it be your address so the music industry doesn't come sue me. They'll get you, instead.

No you don't own it if it extends past your property and where I am from its called public wi fi. I have wireless and I have it encripted. You don't own anything past your property line like wi fi when they give you the ability to lock it down for your own use and you don't.

So why do people lock the doors on their houses, could the answer be so noone can get in. It takes 3 minutes to encript your wireless and yet they don't. But I love how people scream Rape when their wireless that is extending out into public areas gets used by someone else. Maybe we should charge people with unsecrued wireless taxes so the can pay more money since they are given more public access than the rest of us.

But what kills me the most about this is the people yelling Rape and Hacker just plain refuse to encript and secure thier wireless. You do realize that the real hackers are in coffee shops and sitting around corners using unsecured to hack and attack people. And when they trace it back it's your address and the FBI will come talk to you. And since you have a unsecured wireless that anyone could use theres no trace of a hacker. So your going to have to prove you didn't do it. So don't secure it be a dumbass.

But I actually do agree with the arrests simple because they will catch a hacker or 2 in doing so. But what it comes down to is secure your damn wireless and stop being stupid. Truth is if you have unsecured wireless then if anything happens then it's your fault and no one elses. I am tired has hell of hackers out there using someone elses unsecured wireless to attack and hack. So maybe the ones with unsecured wireless should be sued for being stupid. Or make a law reqiuring the dumb ones to secure their wireless.