Man arrested for hopping on to home Wi-Fi network - Computerworld:
"The state law under which Smith was charged prohibits accessing a computer or network knowingly, willfully and without authorization. Kajtsa said it's the first time anyone has been arrested in St. Petersburg for using someone else's Wi-Fi.
'This is a very little-used statute,' Kajtsa said.
Gartner Inc. analyst Ken Dulaney said he has no sympathy for Wi-Fi users such as Dinon.
'He should have put security on his wireless LAN system. It's the guy's fault that he left it open,' Dulaney said. 'Don't the police have anything better to do?'
Open wireless LANs are still common in many residential areas, even though Wi-Fi routers can be set not to broadcast their names, and tools for encryption have improved since the early days of the technology. Dulaney estimated that half of all wireless LANs are completely open to unauthorized users."
While I agree that people should close up their networks and make them secure, I would aslo say that the man broke the law of unauthorized access of a computer network. Because the owner of the network did not make it secure means that the person had a right to break the law. Telling us the police should find something else to do is immature at best. When do we as a people stand up and say a law is a law, break it and you get punished.
The other thing is the level of the user. I am fairly good with my computer skills since i have 25 years Computers and 15 years of that with PCs. I have a hard time setting up a secure wireless network, an amature does not have a chance.
