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Michigan Man Charged for Using Free WiFi
Nichole writes "Sam Peterson II was charged with unauthorized use of computer access for using a coffee shop's free WiFi. He is facing a 5 year felony charge and a $10,000 fine but apparently got off lucky and received only a $400 fine and 40 hours of community service because he was a first time offender. 'it seems few in the village of Sparta, Mich., were aware that using an unsecured Wi-Fi connection without the owner's permission--a practice known as piggybacking--was a felony. Each day around lunch time, Sam Peterson would drive to the Union Street Cafe, park his car and--without actually entering the coffee shop--check his e-mail and surf the Net. His ritual raised the suspicions of Police Chief Andrew Milanowski, who approached him and asked what he was doing. Peterson, probably not realizing that his actions constituted a crime, freely admitted what he was doing ... [the officer] didn't immediately cite or arrest Peterson, mostly because he wasn't certain a crime had been committed.'"
Sparta Police Department
Chief Andrew Milanowski
260 W. Division
Sparta, MI 49345
General Phone: 616-887-8716
Fax: 616-887-7681
Email: policechief@spartami.org
T Lynn Hopkins
Firm: Kent County Prosecuting Attorney
Address: 333 Monroe Ave NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503-2211
Phone: (616) 774-3577
Fax: (616) 336-3095
The FCC has dictated that picking up a transmission like that is 100% legal.
From the original article: He'll pay a $400 fine and do 40 hours of community service, but it will not go on his record. http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6546307
...the sign in their window says "FREE WI-FI (Customers only)", aside from issues of whether the access point should be open or not, and aside from arguments about whether a person using such an access point could under all circumstances be expected to know where it's coming from. (And yes, I realize that could have been added later, but this is in response to people who seemed to think there was no indication.)
6 628229428
More info in a video story here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=332971257
There is an open access point here at a local coffee shop entitled "[Name of shop] - NOT FREE", and the reason why the owner chooses to leave it open is because of problems the occasional customer has with various security mechanisms/passwords that customers simply don't have when he leaves it open. So, he's made his choice, and I doubt whether he'd really care if someone else used it, but at the same time, it is intended for customer use only.
You are required to show them your ID if they ask.
In the US, if you're driving a motor vehicle, you can be compelled to show your driver's license. In any other situation, however, you do not even have to carry ID, let alone show it. You can be compelled to identify yourself (for example, giving your name, DOB, and address) if you are being arrested or ticketed, but other than that you don't even have to give the cops any information.
Curiosity was framed, Ignorance killed the cat.
This is sparta, I know the town well as I drive through on a regular basis. the local police are an utter joke. they only look to give tickets while they have a rampant youth vandalizing problem they refuse to deal with. The police there are known to be raging assholes. The cop certainly could have told him to never do it again and let him off with a warning but he CHOSE to nail this innocent guy.
It was the officers choice to be a raging asshole in this case, and that is how they act there. dont drive 1 mph over the speed limit (one part of sparta on a main through road has 3 signs you can see at once. 45,35,25 it is intentionally confusing so they can nail you for speeding tickets.) as they gladly give you a ticket and look over your car for more they can write.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Well, one problem with WI-FI is that you can be on someone else's network without even knowing.
I installed WI-FI back in 2000 in my house in Tokyo. I didn't bother setting up WEP. One day I was checking my server logs and I saw that someone was ssh'ing in, as me, from an unfamiliar IP address. After a bit of frantic security work I looked at the IP numbers a little more closely and then checked my laptop. The IP number was me! One of my neighbors had set up WI-FI themselves and from certain areas of the house their network was picked up in preference to my own.
So, by your analogy, this is like me wandering into my neighbor's house by accident, sitting down and watching their TV and having NO CLUE I'm in the wrong house and then getting arrested for trespassing.
These days I often see multiple WI-FI networks available anywhere I go. If I go to a coffee shop that has free WI-FI access I might wind up connected not to their network but to their next door neighbor's network, making me, technically, a felon.
The judge should have thrown the court out of case, given genius boy a lecture on ethics (like, go buy some coffee the next time you want to use the free WI-FI) and the prosecutor a long lecture on wasting the court's time.