Slashdot Mirror
Man Arrested for Using Open Wireless Network
DaCool42 writes "In Tampa Bay, a man has been arrested for using a wide open WiFi AP. The St. Petersburg Times has the full story. 'It's no different if I went out and bought a Microsoft program and started sharing it with everyone in my apartment. It's theft,' said Kena Lewis, spokeswoman for Bright House Networks in Orlando."
Hurrah for the Slashdot sense of entitlement.
If there's an MP3, you can download it, and it's the record companies fault for charging too much money or being too evil.
If there's an open wireless point, you can access it illegally, and it's the owner's fault for not padlocking it shut.
If there's a computer on the Internet, you can hack into it, and it's not your fault, it's the admin's fault for not securing it. In fact breaking into computers should be rewarded without high paying jobs, because you're showing how insecure it is, and reading about a hole on a security website or writing a ten-line virus makes you some sort of genius.
If you run a porn site that lets children on, it's not your fault, it's the parents fault for not monitoring their children's Internet access. But of course if they DO monitor it, the same Slashdotters can complain that the parents are infringing on their children's rights to do whatever the hell they want.
In fact, why not go one stage further? Simply declare that anyone who reads Slashdot is allowed to do whatever they want if it's on a computer. That includes hacking, copyright-infringement, illegal porn and anything else, because Slashdotters deserve everything they can take just for being clever enough to install Linux.
And for good measure:
If you send spam, it's the recepient's fault for receiving it. Look at it this way, if you put a sign above your letter box saying 'please enter messages here', is it illegal for people to put messages in? If someone is sent spam, it's their own fault for not securing their e-mail system (i.e. having a whitelist).
It's funny how the concensus around here seems to be:
a. If it is beneficial to Slashdotters, it's OK.
b. If it's not beneficial to Slashdotters, it's illegal and evil and immoral.
Actual law and ethics never seem to come into it, unless it's convenient.