A Wireless Felony

[Onyx]

A wireless felony

Updated: May 21, 2007 10:52 PM

By PATRICK CENTER

SPARTA -- It's a lunch hour ritual at the Re-Union Street Café. Customers regularly log onto the internet using the café's wireless network to check their e-mail and surf the web while they enjoy the coffee and ambience.

Sam Peterson II did the same thing. "I knew that the Union Street had WiFi," he told 24 Hour News 8. "I just went down and checked my e-mail and didn't see a problem with that."

But Peterson did it everyday, and from his car. He drove up, parked, and piggybacked onto the Union Street network.

Piggybacking - using someone else's WiFi without their permission - isn't legal. Sparta Police Chief Andrew Milanowski was suspicious of what Peterson was doing in his car every day and talked with him.

He didn't issue a ticket, but he did hit the books. "I had a feeling a law was being broken," the chief said, "but I didn't know exactly what." He found a relatively new and rarely used law. "Unauthorized use of computer access," he said.

Michigan lawmakers put it on the books in 1979 to protect the public from computer hackers. It was revised in 2000 to include the protection of WiFi systems. Under Michigan law, access a computer system without authorization and you're committing a crime.

A warrant was sworn for Peterson's arrest on a "five year felony, $10,000 fine," he said. "I would have never guessed."

Milanowski doesn't believe Peterson knew he was breaking the law. "In my opinion, probably not. Most people probably don't."

Neither did the coffee shop owner Donna May. "I didn't know it was really illegal, either," she told 24 Hour News 8. "If he would have come in (to the coffee shop) it would have been fine."

Kent County Assistant Prosecutor Lynn Hopkins said, "This is the first time that we've actually charged it," and it could be the only case of its kind in the state. "Oh, we'd been hoping to dodge this bullet for a while. We had not been looking for this," she said. "We knew it would come up eventually and we'd have to make a decision as to how to deal with it."

24 Hour News 8 investigated the number of prosecutions - and found only a handful of WiFi freeloaders prosecuted worldwide.

But it was inevitable with all the hotspots and businesses providing WiFi access. In the US alone, an estimated 16 million homes are now equipped.

The only way to catch a piggybacker is to catch someone, like Peterson, in the act "because 90 percent of the time we wouldn't know, frankly, that it's going on," Hopkins said.

New York's Westchester County is trying a different tack. Their local government said it's up to WiFi subscribers to protect themselves against piggybackers. Businesses were told to secure their networks or pay a fine.

Hopkins doesn't agree with that tactic. "It's the same attitude of somehow the victim's responsible for preventing the crime, and that's not the approach that our justice system takes."

Increasing security awareness isn't a bad idea, though. Some argue WiFi is a broadcast and the airwaves are open to the public.

In a February 2007 Target 8 Investigation, a drive through city streets exposed vulnerable WiFi hookups, available to anyone looking to surf the web or check their e-mail.

As a first-time offender without a prior record, the Kent County prosecutor's office decided not to charge Peterson with a felony. Instead, he'll be enrolled in the county's diversion program.

He'll pay a $400 fine and do 40 hours of community service, but it will not go on his record.

The prosecutor's offices said not everyone who gets caught breaking the law will be given this option. Offenders will be judged on a case-by-case basis.

The next time you're tempted, though, think of Sam Peterson. "People need to know that this isn't legal and if you get caught there are some pretty serious consequences."

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6546307

[Dubh Aingeal]

Not surprising. Most places offering free wireless are offering it to their customers not to everyone.

He found a relatively new and rarely used law. "Unauthorized use of computer access," he said.

This can be a stickie situation. In most cases it has to be stated in a message that the system is for authorized use, and any other use is prohibited. Which is why alot of your work computers have this comment on the login screen. That way if your caught using the system to check your personal email, surf the web, im, etc you can be fired without any other reason being given.

[know_buddy_kares]

honestly, i share the mentality that if you don't want non customers to gain access, learn how to work the equipment you have for fucks sake. It's NOT that hard. What's next, getting arrested for taking a piss in a convenience store bathroom without buying anything? And the fact that he almost faced felony charges was just absurd.. the fine and community service is still absurd. What a worthless law.

[Onyx]

honestly, i share the mentality that if you don't want non customers to gain access, learn how to work the equipment you have for fucks sake. It's NOT that hard. What's next, getting arrested for taking a piss in a convenience store bathroom without buying anything? And the fact that he almost faced felony charges was just absurd.. the fine and community service is still absurd. What a worthless law.

It wasn't even the shop owner who pressed charges though. She didn't even know it was illegal for non-customers to tap into her net, so it doesn't look like she even cared if they used it or not.

From the article it appears it was the police chief who followed through. (Sounds to me as if that police department is busy with the wrong things).

[ZhukovCodeslinger]

If the shop owner wanted this to go away, all they would have to say is the guy was authorized. Call the guys defense attorney and tell them to call you as a witness and then make the cops look like asses.

[know_buddy_kares]

Too many people are afraid of doing that. And I know the shop owner wasn't the one pressing charges. She's simply not doing anything, not that it's a good/bad thing. Nothing was done wrong by anyone until trouble hit. The cop did wrong by harassing someone with charges who wasn't really doing anything wrong to begin with. The store owner did wrong by not doing a damn thing to defend this guy (way to go for your business reputation lady, makes me really wanna go there) yes, not doing anything is wrong, why? Because now the fool has to pay $400 and do 40 hours of community service. I really bet she'd have put up a protest if she had to pay the money and do the community service right along with him. The judge giving this sentence was also wrong, he should have said fuck it, throw everything out..

So I guess it's a felony now to park your car and check your e-mail. And we say this is still a free country, even though felony charges may still be dropped for this sort of situation... but why the fuck can't someone check a damn e-mail account in their vehicle without getting harassed, fined, and forced into a form of labor that doesn't pay.

[Dubh Aingeal]

So I guess it's a felony now to park your car and check your e-mail.

If your using a network you have no legal right to be on then yes it is.

[Scary Guy]

If your using a network you have no legal right to be on then yes it is.

No it isn't. Most people who use computers are idiots. I know for a fact that most laptops with wifi will connect to the strongest link available. If they don't have passwords on their routers that's their fault.

Also it's a router (which yes is a mini computer but it's still a router). So it's not unauthorized computer access, it's unauthorized network access. Different crime IMO.

Now if you connect to another computer over that network, that is where that law should come into play.