Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

UK Police Cracking Down on Broadband Theft

Posted by samzenpus on from the throw-away-the-key dept.

dubculture writes "A 39 year-old man in West London was arrested for dishonestly obtaining free internet access" from an unsecured wireless router nearby. The article discusses a couple of other cases, including one where a fine of £500 (~US$1000) was handed out for, essentially, taking advantage of someone else's inability (read: apathy) towards securing their home network."

3 of 672 comments (clear)

  1. No problem by lukesky321 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have an unsecure network, and I really don't care if anyone uses it as long as nothing illegal is performed.

    1. Re:No problem by SL+Baur · · Score: 5, Interesting

      A bicycle unattended in my front yard is not express permission for you to take it. I left an unlocked bicycle unattended in my front yard in Tokyo for over two years hoping someone needy would take it (I lived near a woman's university and I truly didn't understand Tokyo at the time) but no one did. It's Japan, so the bicycle is probably still sitting there unlocked even though I moved away 4 1/2 years ago. Not enough other dang gaijin in that neighborhood I suppose. (Bicycle theft is epidemic in places like Tsukuba where there are a higher percentage of foreigners).

      Japan is the place where you can buy a bag of CDs, accidentally leave them in a nearby ATM and then later pick them up from the nearest koban where someone dropped them off after they saw you left it behind. I didn't do that, but I witnessed it. Can you imagine the same kind of thing happening in the US? I can't, I'm a native american.

      A coworker in Japan was telling me about the time she visited New York with her husband and after buying some things went to a restaurant, left her bags at the table and went away for a moment. In Japan, Nothing Happens when you do things like that, but that was New York and the bags were stolen.

      On another occasion when I was living in Tokyo, but working in Kobe (about 5 hours by train after you factor in the local trains) I accidentally left my apartment unlocked for an entire week unattended. Nothing Happened.

      The US isn't civilized and hasn't been for a long time. If you look away, you should have the expectation that whatever it was you're not looking at will disappear, because it will. And no, I'm not happy about saying this. I used to love living in California and the USA. It wasn't so many years ago that it used to be safe to leave a car with the keys inside (remember the "lock your car, take your keys" ad campaign?).

      So yes, I admire your sentiments, but anywhere outside of the best places in Japan, I've never seen them in practice. I've never been to the UK, but I presume they have worse problems than the US given all the surveillance cameras they've felt the need to install in recent years.
  2. Unauthorized use? by Jorgandar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Rubbish law. When you log into a network, so long as you're not hacking it, you politely ask the router "may i use this network and have an IP address?". The router says "yes", on behalf of you, the owner. Therefore it is authorized.

    Its NOT the same as leaving your front door open in your house, or your car unlocked.

    It IS the same as leaving your front door open in your house, having a visitor stop at the door and ask "may I come in?" and you replying "yes". You can't then turn around and sue for trespassing.

    -J