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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.'"
No, "this logic" is the letter of the law, which says that what happened here was illegal, and what you suggest isn't.
You're welcome.
What is the problem here? He's a thief. If you parked outside of a drive-in and set your radio to the the dialogue, are you just some ignorant fool or are you guilty of theft of service? The answer is: You are guilty of theft of service.
I asked for an IP. What I got was an IP, *PLUS* the router volunteered to give me a gateway and dns server to use to access the internet. That sounds like permission to me.
I turned a doorknob. What I got was a turned doorknob, *PLUS* the door volunteered to give me an entry to use to access the house. That sounds like permission to me.
What kind of bizarre background did you have growing up, that machines can give or refuse permission in the human and / or legal sense?
Are you not capable of thinking for yourself? Perhaps don't have the social skills to instinctively understand there's difference?
I'm guessing (it's not clear whether you're any good at logic) you've heard of garbage-in, garbage-out, that computers can't actually think?
The router didn't volunteer anything. It did exactly what the manufacturer's programmers told it to do. And it doesn't say much for this guy that he didn't have the common decency to buy a coffee from this place as a gesture of appreciation, something most people could figure out for themselves as being the thing to do. Maybe he lacked a few skills too.