Man Sues Neighbor For Not Turning Off His Wi-Fi

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Man Sues Neighbor For Not Turning Off His Wi-Fi

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday January 12, 2010 @10:27AM from the have-you-never-wondered-why-I-drink-only-distilled-water-or-rain-water-and-only-pure-grain-alcohol dept.

Scyth3 writes "A man is suing his neighbor for not turning off his cell phone or wireless router. He claims it affects his 'electromagnetic allergies,' and has resorted to being homeless. So, why doesn't he check into a hotel? Because hotels typically have wireless internet for free. I wonder if a tinfoil hat would help his cause?"

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Retard. by XPeter · 2010-01-12 10:30 · Score: 5, Insightful

You can't be "Allergic to wi-fi"
Put him in a room, and turn the wireless on and off. Guaranteed he won't be able to tell the difference.

--
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits" - Albert Einstein
1. Re:Retard. by Rei · 2010-01-12 10:51 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  That can't stop you from suing. Look at Jonathan Lee Riches. This is a guy who sued the Guinness Book of World Records for listing him as the man who's filed the most lawsuits in the history of mankind. ;) He's among others, he's sued Bill Belichick, George W. Bush, Martha Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Michael Vick, Steve Jobs, Perez Hilton, Somali pirates, Britney Spears, Benazir Bhutto, Pervez Musharraf, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Adolf Hitler's National Socialist Party, the 13 tribes of Israel, Plato, Nostradamus, Che Guevara, James Hoffa, "Various Buddhist Monks", the Lincoln Memorial, the Eiffel Tower, the USS Cole, the book Mein Kampf, the Garden of Eden, the Roman Empire, the Appalachian Trail, Plymouth Rock, the Holy Grail, the dwarf planet Pluto, and the entire Three Mile Island.
  
  --
  Stop it, stop it, it's fine. I will *destroy* you.
2. Re:Retard. by omfgnosis · 2010-01-12 11:05 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  But he should really watch out for doubles.
3. Re:Retard. by AmigaMMC · 2010-01-12 11:23 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  What next? Is he going to ask radio stations to stop broadcasting? Or is he allergic only to frequencies used by Wi-Fi routers?
  We live in a world that is constantly bombarded by radio waves, can't really hide anywhere.
4. Re:Retard. by interkin3tic · 2010-01-12 11:24 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  It's worth noting that the French, acting on behalf of the Eiffel tower, settled out of court for an undisclosed sum of money.
5. Re:Retard. by Dishevel · 2010-01-12 11:28 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  How is a story of the French surrendering worth noting? :)
  
  --
  Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
6. Re:Retard. by djdavetrouble · 2010-01-12 11:35 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  It is suspected that this lawsuit was really a conspiracy just designed to get all named plantiffs one degree of separation away from Kevin Bacon (also named in the suit).
  
  --
  music lover since 1969
7. Re:Retard. by 2short · 2010-01-12 11:42 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  "Many allergic reactions (like my own seasonal allergies) don't come and go like a light switch in the presence or absence of the allergen."
  
  But all allergic reactions (including your seasonal allergies) occur when the body identifies proteins in the allergen as belonging to an attacking organism, and produces antibodies in response. To put it simply, if ridiculously, there are no proteins in wi-fi signals. So, even if wifi has any unusual effect on this guy, it isn't an allergy.
  
  "I could sit in a clean room for 2 or 3 days after getting really spun up from my tree allergies until the symptoms really begin to diminish."
  
  Of course. Antibodies remain in your blood well after exposure. But if you sat in a clean room until you had no symptoms, then inhaled a vial I gave you, and waited in the clean room to see what happened, you could tell me if the vial contained tree pollen or just something that smelled like it but wasn't. Can this guy do something similar with a box that might be a wifi router or not? I don't know, but a lot of other people have claimed sensitivity to wifi, and none of them have done it, so I'm guessing he can't either.
8. Re:Retard. by loose+electron · 2010-01-12 11:42 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  he only resonates at certain frequencies....
  
  --
  www.effectiveelectrons.com "chips that work" Analog, RF, Mixed Signal
9. Re:Retard. by MrNaz · 2010-01-12 11:47 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I call bull.
  I'll put up $1,000 as a bet that you can't tell when xrays are passing through you in a true blind test. Find a hospital that will do the test, call me and I'll gladly put the money into an escrow. My email address is:
  mr naz at hot mail dot com
  If you're not BSing, then put your $1,000 where your mouth is.
  
  --
  I hate printers.
10. Re:Retard. by goodmanj · 2010-01-12 11:53 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  I have an alergy to sunlight ... when I mentioned to a professional, apparently it's common but not normal and has been diagnosed as an alergy.
  No you don't. Get a better professional, or at least spend thirty seconds Googling it.
  It's a common genetic condition, probably related to some sort of signal crosstalk between the optic nerve and the nerve that causes sneezes.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sneeze_reflex
  http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/527/why-do-some-people-sneeze-when-going-out-into-bright-light
11. Re:Retard. by Chris+Burke · 2010-01-12 11:55 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Many allergic reactions (like my own seasonal allergies) don't come and go like a light switch in the presence or absence of the allergen.
  Right, because your immune system is actually being agitated by the actual allergic response to the actual allergens, and it takes time to come down, plus there are probably still actual allergens like pollen stuck in your sinuses and continuing to irritate you.
  Speaking of light switches, all I can think of is the case of a cell phone company that put up a new tower, and all the advanced folks in the neighborhood by it complained that the tower was irritating their EM allergies and giving them headaches and whatnot.
  The company's response to their complaints? "Gee, we can only imagine how bad it's going to get when we actually turn the tower on!"
  The tower wasn't on. There was no EM radiation that could have provoked any hypothetical allergy response. It was all in their extremely advanced heads.
  The ultimate kicker to this story would be if the neighbor had actually turned off their wi-fi weeks ago but told the guy they hadn't just to keep cheesing them off and to show how the "allergy" only exists as long as they think there's evil wi-fi. Unfortunately I'm sure that's not true, because the neighbor probably finds their wi-fi useful and why the hell would you stop using a useful and harmless tool because the nutjob next door thinks it's bad for them?
  As far as the "weird unexplained things happen!" reasoning... Yeah, weird things do happen, but it's not like wi-fi itself is some unexplained phenomenon. We know what the power densities of it are at any given range, and unless you believe in homeopathic E-M radiation, there's no way it's having the effects people claim. High voltage power lines? Maybe there's something to that. Wi-fi? Yeah fucking right.
  
  --
  
  The enemies of Democracy are
12. Re:Retard. by MrNaz · 2010-01-12 11:56 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I have an alergy to sunlight, usually when emerging from a dark room into bright sunlight my eyes water, my nose goes ichy and I sneeze sometimes. It lasts a few minutes until my eyes adjust. I always thought this was a natural normal reaction and thought nothing of it, indeed it makes sense that your eyes water in bright light. But no, when I mentioned to a professional, apparently it's common but not normal and has been diagnosed as an alergy.
  Bee Ess.
  Sensitivity to sunlight is NOT an allergy. An allergy is a disorder of the immune system. A physiological response to physical stimulation is not an immune reaction, it's a physiological reaction.
  If we redefined allergy to include that, then it would lose all meaning. E.g., Everyone would be allergic to being punched in the nose because it made your eyes water. It may even make you cry like a girl.
  
  "Indeed there are people who can die from an alergic reaction to UV light.
  
  It's called "melanoma". It, too, is not an alergic reaction.
  
  Yet it's plausible that people are alergic to EMF, it's certainly established that people can be alergic to parts of the EM spectrum.
  No. QED.
  
  --
  I hate printers.
13. Re:Retard. by interkin3tic · 2010-01-12 11:58 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Is there a term for when you make a joke on /., someone responds by making the joke more obvious, and then they get the funny mod instead of you? Maybe "whooshmodded?"
  Anyway, two can play at that game:
  ?: "Knock knock?"
  Frenchman: "Who is there? NEVERMIND WE SURRENDER BECAUSE WE'RE FRENCH AND EAT CHEESE!"
14. Re:Retard. by nigelo · 2010-01-12 11:58 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  he only resonates at certain frequencies....
  No, it seems like a constant high-pitched whine to me...
  
  --
  *Still* negative function...
15. Re:Retard. by flatrock · 2010-01-12 12:34 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  The existence of his allergies or lack thereof is irrelevant. The case should be dismissed because it is not his neighbor's resonsibility to go beyond FCC regulations in limiting radio emissions from his property. Turning off his cell phone will also do nothing about the cell towers in the area.
  The guy with the allergies can take steps to block or at least seriously attenuate signals comming into his house. It may not be cheap, but since when is dealing with medical problems cheap.
  He can also move to a rural area where such emissions are less in order to avoid them.
16. Re:Retard. by pclminion · 2010-01-12 12:45 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  My mother in law has a medical condition where exposure to bright sunlight breaks down proteins in her skin. One of the breakdown products generates an auto-immune response. In other words, she's "allergic" to bright sunlight. True, sunlight contains no proteins, but the interaction of sunlight with her skin CREATES proteins to which she is allergic.
  I seriously doubt that WiFi radiation could do the same thing, but these processes can't be oversimplified like that.
17. Re:Retard. by BikeHelmet · 2010-01-12 12:50 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  You can't be "Allergic to wi-fi"
  Put him in a room, and turn the wireless on and off. Guaranteed he won't be able to tell the difference.
  Maybe that's not what it is.
  My neighbour's phone was giving me a nasty headache. I thought it was food allergies, but one time I was in the backyard and his window was opened. I noticed the throbbing was pointing directly at that opening. I went over to his house and explained what was going on. He thought it was really strange, but let me in to look around. Once I figured out it was the phone(took all of 10 seconds to find it), I told him. He was happy to accept the new phone that I gave him later that day. No more headaches.
  Best bet... some sort of frequency that I can *almost* hear, but nobody else can? The new phone was the exact same frequency, so I suspect his was somehow defective.
  The guy suing could be a hypochondriac, or maybe there's more to it. I can hear CRT TVs - but that's pretty common. I can also hear circuit breakers, capacitors, power lines (I try not to get too close), LCD monitors, battery powered clocks, some watches, etc.; but none of that stuff causes me to have a headache. I have a Wireless G network with the signal strength ramped up - Tomato WRT54GL - but no headache.
  I think my (superior?) hearing might be genetic. I have an Uncle nearing age 60, and he can still hear that annoying Mosquito ringtone that's supposed to be Teen-only.
  What I don't get is, why would this guy sue? My first line of attack would be begging them to let me network their whole house, if it was real physical discomfort. If it wasn't physical - just something audible like being able to hear their TV - then who cares?
18. Re:Retard. by ysth · 2010-01-12 14:07 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Um, no, he didn't. That was the original joke, just using subtlety instead of the ice pick to the forehead.
19. Re:Retard. by Pikoro · 2010-01-12 15:52 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  he said he's NOT french
  
  --
  "Freedom in the USA is not the ability to do what you want. It is the ability to stop others from doing what THEY want"
20. Re:Retard. by Nemyst · 2010-01-12 16:59 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  So much for mod points...
  
  I'd just like to point out that high-pitched noises, often caused by the flyback transformers found in things such as CRT monitors, are a far cry from detecting x-rays and radio waves. Why? Because one is just a sound and we have ears to feel that; that some people cannot hear the sound while others can is related to the auditive acuity of the person, nothing more. Case in point, you can make the test yourself. Just Google for "mosquito sound" and look for the different frequencies. You have a whole array of higher and higher noises which different people will react to differently. I can hear them and it's annoying, but there was a girl in my physics course who'd immediately sense it the second I turned it on no matter where she was in the classroom. This is perfectly valid because we have ears and ears are supposed to do that.
  
  However, as far as I know, the skin isn't supposed to be an x-ray detector. The closest we have to that would be our own eyes, since x-rays are EM waves just like visible light. The skin's only way of triggering a response would be to react adversely to the energy being transmitted (IE alpha/beta/gamma rays, but not as dangerous). I don't really see how this would be possible for extremely short exposures (although I'm not saying it is impossible, I don't know). However, I'd just like to point out: from what I gathered, the GP saw the x-ray scanner. Have you ever felt a tingling sensation when feeling like something's close, even though there isn't anything? It's a bit like a presence, as if you were about to get touched by someone. I'd argue that you might very well be reacting in this way and not because of the actual x-rays. Until you've been bombarded by them randomly with no visual or auditive cues, it's impossible to say whether you're reacting to the x-rays themselves or just to the thought of the x-rays.
21. Re:Retard. by qc_dk · 2010-01-12 22:09 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Ummm, because the french have actually been in a lot of wars (50 major european wars since 1500) and won 2/3 of all wars they've been in(since records began)?
22. Re:Retard. by GungaDan · 2010-01-13 03:02 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I'm betting that if the neighbor merely stopped broadcasting his SSID, the "allergy" would cease.
  
  --
  Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
Seems oddly like... by Darkness404 · 2010-01-12 10:32 · Score: 3, Interesting

This seems a lot like http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/09/07/27/1514209/English-DJ-Claims-Wi-Fi-Allergy which was proven to be a PR stunt in http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/09/07/31/1528241/Wi-Fi-Allergy-a-PR-Stunt

--
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Don't live there by DeadPixels · 2010-01-12 10:32 · Score: 4, Insightful

Even if we were to assume that these "electromagnetic allergies" did exist, no one is forcing that man to live there. As an example, I'm allergic to dogs, but I'm not suing my neighbor for owning one. It's my choice to live where I do and it's not my prerogative to tell him that he can't own a dog.
1. Re:Don't live there by Anonymous Coward · 2010-01-12 10:41 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Your neighbor's dog doesn't radiate through the walls though. :P
litmus test by MaXintosh · 2010-01-12 10:32 · Score: 5, Insightful

I have a way to be fair to this guy, as well as punish people abusing torts. It's very simple:
a) If he can demonstrate his ability to detect electromagnetic fields under reasonable experimental conditions, they'll consider his case.
b) If he can't demonstrate his ability to detect electromagnetic fields under reasonable experimental conditions significantly more than chance, he owes the plaintiff the same amount he's seeking.

I call this the `put up or shut up` principle. Although, it might be more widely known as the `Let's not be flaming idiots` principle.
1. Re:litmus test by LWATCDR · 2010-01-12 10:42 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Or let's actually be very fair.
  Using WiFi is totally legal and within the other home owners rights. Even if he has this alergy it isn't up to his neighbor to do anything about it.
  May his health insurance provider will offer to build him a Faraday cage. All he would need to do is cover his house with chicken wire, paint and stucco over it and connect it to ground.
  That would protect him from not only WiFi but also radar from planes flying over head, TV and Radio broadcasts, and even Satellite transmissions.
  Of course he would have to give up electricity all together to really have an EM free home but that is his problem.
  
  --
  See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
2. Re:litmus test by IndustrialComplex · 2010-01-12 11:06 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  we are on slashdot for god's sake!
  
  You know what? You are right. Lets give that the Slashdot treatment.
  faraday cages do not block elecromagnetic waves.
  Depends on the meaning of the word block.
  antimatter cannot be transported in a suitcase. Of course it can, just not transported very far. And it has the side benefit of transporting everything around it immediately afterward.
  homeopathy has no scientific evidence. Of course it has scientific evidence. The evidence suggests that Homeopathy is bunk, but there is plenty of evidence.
  earth is not flat.
  You just need to look at it on the right scale.
  
  --
  Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
3. Re:litmus test by 91degrees · 2010-01-12 11:06 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  He's not really abusing torts though. At least not deliberately. He does suffer from a genuine medical condition. The fact that it's psychological rather than physical doesn't make it any less of a problem.
4. Re:litmus test by SCPRedMage · 2010-01-12 12:34 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  The fact that it's psychological rather than physical doesn't make it any less of a problem.
  But it DOES make it a problem that was neither caused by, nor can be relieved by, his neighbor's actions. Which makes it his own damn problem.
  
  --
  My sig can beat up your sig.
Get off my Astral Plane! by kclittle · 2010-01-12 10:33 · Score: 5, Funny

And stop eating meat OR veggies -- I can hear the carrots scream!

--
Generally, bash is superior to python in those environments where python is not installed.
I want to sue as well... by mldi · 2010-01-12 10:36 · Score: 5, Funny

Is he crazy? I wanna sue my neighbour for not turning his WiFi back on!

--
If you aren't suspicious of your government's actions, you aren't doing your job as a responsible citizen.
Re:Microwave Ovens? Cordless Phones? by MightyMartian · 2010-01-12 10:36 · Score: 3, Insightful

He clearly needs to sue the Sun for giving such a constant stream of high energy particles. Then, of course, there's the galaxy, with those awful cosmic rays. Hell, there's the blackbody radiation.
I hope this guys has a lawyer with a pretty clear schedule.
On a more serious note, this guy needs to be sued into bankruptcy.

--
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Don't sue, get $1M instead... by nweaver · 2010-01-12 10:41 · Score: 5, Insightful

As has been mentioned by others, WiFi sensitivity should easily count for paranormal under the James Randi Educational Foundation's $1M paranormal prize. http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/1m-challenge.html

--
Test your net with Netalyzr
Re:Should we punish people for suing? by MaXintosh · 2010-01-12 10:50 · Score: 4, Informative

The plaintiff is a serial litigant. He's sued just about everyone and his uncle before. While I agree, there needs to be protection for those with less extreme claims, there also needs to be more teeth to punishing those who abuse the system. A nice place to start is to punish those with outlandish or vindictive claims.
Maybe this is a dumb question, but... by lemur666 · 2010-01-12 10:54 · Score: 5, Insightful

...how exactly did he know his neighbor had a wireless router running, unless he used some sort of wireless device (all of which produce their own EM emissions) to specifically detect the EM emissions coming from his neighbor? And no, divining rods don't count, regardless of what Iraqi bomb squads are doing.

--
Corollary to Hanlon's razor: Any significantly advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from malice.
Re:He will have a hard time proving his case by tsm_sf · 2010-01-12 10:58 · Score: 4, Funny

Ferrets are widely known to promote blood circulation, asshole. One of the landmark studies compared the orgonocephalic health of a man with a ferret strapped to his head against that of a control subject*, with many interesting results.
* tube sock full of mice

--
Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
Oblig. XKCD by ChipMonk · 2010-01-12 11:08 · Score: 3, Funny

Issue 654
Man Sues Neighbor For Not Turning On His Wife!!! by master_p · 2010-01-12 11:17 · Score: 3, Funny

That's what you get when you read /. at 2 am and you are falling asleep on the keyboard...
The PM says it's the WiFi by theNAM666 · 2010-01-12 11:21 · Score: 3, Funny

In other news, the Prime Minister released a press release today, explaining that recent government scandals were the result of "problems with the WiFi" which caused "mass delusions among Parliamentarians" which "made them do it." Mr. Brown promises that henceforth that the Parliamentary floor, retreats and other events will be WiFi-free in order to combat corruption. No word on Browning Street.
James Cameron announces a new movie. by crovira · 2010-01-12 14:52 · Score: 3, Funny

It will star a Navvi' lawyer who gains fame suing the entire planet earth for deforestation of his planet and other environmental disasters caused by by 'drive by' visits by earthlings.
Budget for this mix of "Philadelhia" meet "Avatar" is estimated at over 330,000,000 and will use up the worlds' entire supply of "green screen" drop cloths, as soon as he learns how Cristo wrapped the Reichstag.

--
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