Is Using WiFi Illegal?
from the fine-lines dept
A few weeks ago we wrote a post wondering if it's illegal to get hacked. Tower Records was fined for having their customer records hacked, with the rationale that they didn't do enough to protect them. While it makes sense to fine a company that has revealed customer records, this becomes a slippery slope. What if you put in place all sorts of protective measures, and hackers still get through? Or, take the argument in a different direction - what if you think it's fine to leave your system open? With that in mind, Mark Rasch takes a look to see whether or not using WiFi may constitute a felony. It seems like a fine line, but if someone felt it was necessary, you could get in an awful lot of legal trouble for using WiFi. On the end user side of things, connecting to an open WiFi access point may run afoul of laws that make it illegal to "knowingly access a computer used in interstate or foreign communication 'without authorization.'" If the response is that the system was open, and thus the authorization was implied, then does that apply to situations where a customer database is left open as well? What if the security is so flimsy as to basically be non-existent. Where's the line? On the other side of things, Rasch points out that just by setting up a WiFi network, you could be in trouble as well. Unless you carefully make sure that no one outside of your home can access the network, you may run into problems with many state laws that make it illegal to "share" an internet connection, the same way it's illegal to share a cable or satellite TV connection.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
