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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."

25 of 1,443 comments (clear)

  1. Eating hotdogs without a permit by QuantumG · · Score: 1, Funny

    it's just like theft!!

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
  2. Re:Open doors by Kethinov · · Score: 5, Funny

    You mean the free internet I'm getting from my neighbors isn't legal? :(

    --
    You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
  3. Re:Open doors by PopeAlien · · Score: 5, Funny

    It remains unclear what Smith was using the Wi-Fi for, to surf, play online video games, send e-mail to his grandmother, or something more nefarious.

    .. or quite possibly.. ALL OF THE ABOVE!

    For safeties sake lets just outlaw the internet.

  4. This guys is a jackass! by ad0le · · Score: 3, Funny

    He could have kept his mouth shut... blamed his "connection" on Windows XP's "auto connect" feature for WiFi devices and sued Microsoft for incured losses..... I'm resisting the urge to say .... Profit!!!

    --
    My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch.
  5. Re:A poor analogy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    While the article doesn't say he was a perv, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he was -- and pulling kiddie porn or somesuch.

    Seeing that you're a Slashdot subscriber, I wouldn't be suprised if you listen to The Who and download kiddie porn.

    (mods: please mentally insert some "sarcasm" tags before modding this down.)

  6. Re:Open doors by pwnage · · Score: 3, Funny

    Wow, no kidding. I commit this crime every time I go over to my girlfriend's apartment! Better get me a lawyer.

    --
    Reminder: Apple owns 1/255th of the internet.
  7. Re:Open doors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    No and if you keep clicking on those damn slashdot goatse links I'm seriously going to turn WPA on.
    -your neighbor

  8. Re:Open doors by Klowner · · Score: 4, Funny

    Crap, and all this time I've been walking into people's homes and plugging my laptop directly into their switch.

  9. Re:Open doors by dcam · · Score: 4, Funny

    I recommend banning Acer. Clearly they were the root cause of the problem. They built hardware that was capable of hacking an open access point.

    --
    meh
  10. No different by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 3, Funny
    It's no different if I went out and bought a Microsoft program

    Exactly - I can see it now Man arrested for using Microsoft Software See /. articles on how your Win machine will instantly become part of an intergalactic Beowulf cluster of anal probe gizmotrons on powerup.

    --
    Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
  11. Re:Open doors by Floody · · Score: 2, Funny

    So this guy is walking down the street, his stomach grumbling with hunger. In a row of a shops to the right he spots what looks like it might be a sandwich shop, but he can't tell. There's a sign with no writing up and no hours on the door.

    He walks in, and sure enough, there's a "make table" with all the goodies someone could possible want for a sandwich. Oddly though, there's nobody in sight, and no cash register! Hell, not even a tip jar to be seen. He scans the room for a price marquee, or any indication of how he might go about purchasing one of these delectable appearing sandwiches. Again, absolutely no indication of standard vending apparatus or staff!

    His shouts of "Helloooo, anyone here?" go unanswered. Finally, he peeks around the establishment looking for any sign of vendor life. None. His stomach of course couldn't care less of this odd situation, and continues to complain with increasing annoyance. Finally, he gives up and decides to make himself a nice tasty lunchtime treat. He figures he'll just go ahead and eat it here; someone's sure to come along sooner or later!

    Thirty minutes later, his appetite is well appeased, but still .. the "shop" remains without "keeper." Once more he searches for some sign of till or other monetary receptacle, finding absolutely nothing. Time pressing, he finally gives up and leaves; perhaps he'll come back tomorrow and discover the truth to the great Agatha Cristie Lunchtime Mystery Special.

    Two hours later he is arrested for shoplifting. Apparently he missed the hidden camera in one corner of the shop.

  12. Re:Open doors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    > I wouldn't be surprised if he got 10 years in the electric chair.

    I believe that you may have a somewhat less than complete understanding of the operation of an electric chair.

    --
    Your friend,
    A. Humorless Dickhead

  13. Re:Open doors by Mythrix · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or it's like this:
    Someone bought a wireless router to share his internet connection at home with the rest of his family, but he didn't bother to setup any security.

    Then someone outside of the house connects to the wireless router to use the internet connection, without the owner of the router knowing or approving this.

    ...wait, what were we talking about again?

  14. Re:Open doors by cra · · Score: 2, Funny

    You could also say it is like singing in the shower. If you sing loud and people stop outside to listen, they should be welcome to. If you don't want them to hear you, shut the windows or shut up. Both your voice and the WiFi signal is broadcasted through public space.

    BTW, I wonder how long before some stupid guy sues his neighbour for broadcasting his WiFi signal onto his property. ;-)

    --
    This message has been ROT-13 encrypted twice for higher security.
  15. Sounds like a familiar story by Paul+Crowley · · Score: 3, Funny

    Not long afterwards, he's turned into a pig and trapped in that land until his daughter can free him and her mother from the sorceress Yubaba...

  16. Re:Open doors by AdmiralWeirdbeard · · Score: 4, Funny

    how about Chevy? They built the car that let him troll around looking for a network. They I mean, they provided the means by which he kept his nefarious activities cloaked (sortof)

    isnt there some kind of patriot act violation there?

    --
    Come read my stupid blagablog. Rants and Giggles
  17. Analogies & Observations by ShagratTheTitleless · · Score: 1, Funny
    "It's no different if I went out and bought a Microsoft program and started sharing it with everyone in my apartment."

    Observation: No. I would consider that to be assault against the apartment dwellers. We could call it e-rape or iRape in case you distribute OSX, and then put you away for a good long time.

    Another observation is that whoever owns the open wi-fi connection should be in trouble for stealing this poor kid's signal and forwarding *his* data on to the interent without his permission. Just ask the satelite tv companies if you may use a signal just because it's in your space.

    (And now to contradict my last statement) : A better Analogy would be someone broadcasting MS Software into my home or ME. If I get hit in the face with a fucking Office CD (After dutifully checking to make sure it's genuine microsoft and I won't be doing hard time for posessing it), I will do whatever I wish with it.

    also, "than" after different, maggot.

    --
    Sometimes at night I imagine the darkness is filled with horrible things with too many teeth, like Julia Roberts.
  18. Re:Open doors by galego · · Score: 3, Funny
    For safeties sake lets just outlaw the internet.

    Be careful ... there may be a politician reading this stuff!!

    --

    Que Deus te de em dobro o que me desejas

    [May God give you double that which you wish for me]

  19. Re:Open doors by Thuktun · · Score: 3, Funny

    Be careful ... there may be a politician reading this stuff!!

    Surely you mean that someone must be reading it to them.

  20. Re:Open doors by SPSTech · · Score: 2, Funny
    "For safeties sake lets just outlaw the internet.

    Be careful ... there may be a politician reading this stuff!!"

    You're assuming most of them can actually read...

    --
    Sig?
  21. Re:Open doors by alta · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think in this case I'd say you left a set of tools sitting in the guy's kitchen, in his way.

    I have exactly the same problem, I have my laptop setup to auto-connect to the best network because it's very convienent while traveling. Then suddenly the guy in the office downstairs gets an AP, puts it on the same channel as mine (dumbass) and leaves it insecure. So I suddenly get connected to his stinking network and all my servers are unavailable. So I went down there, had a talk with him about security and for free, secured his network. 2 weeks later, it's called linksys again and it's insecure. I go down and ask him why "Oh, we had someone else come in, and we couldn't find the codes (he meant wep keys) so we just reset it. Great hu?"

    Yeah, great....

    So now, I have a WAP that I sat as close to his office as possible. It's on the same channel as his, it has an antenna pointing at his office, it's wide ass open, the SSID is linksys (even though it's not a linksys), and it has no connection to the internet. awe......

    --
    Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.
  22. Re:Open doors by m50d · · Score: 2, Funny

    But you don't have to enter their house or anything. It's like using a plug on the outside wall, or something. As for why the internet should be free, it's because it doesn't really cost anything. All you connect to is other people's servers. If I'm serving web pages on my system, and getting pages from other people's systems, why should any of us have to pay? The only thing that costs is the links between us, but often they're maintained for everyone by universities or similar. That's how it started anyway.

    --
    I am trolling
  23. Re:Open doors by chillmost · · Score: 4, Funny
    Wow, no kidding. I commit this crime every time I go over to my girlfriend's apartment! Better get me a lawyer.

    No, no. We're not talking about that. We're talking about using open wireless connections.

  24. Re:Open doors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Can someone please post some more analogies? Perhaps something involving a duck and a landmine. Thanks.

  25. Re:Open doors by kryzx · · Score: 3, Funny

    Let's ban DNA.
    Clearly that was the root cause of the Chevy, the Acer, and both of the morons involved in this.

    --
    "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."