Two cautioned over wi-fi 'theft'

Iria · Apr 18, 2007, 04:36 AM

Source: BBC News
________
Two people have been cautioned for using people's wi-fi broadband internet connections without permission.

Neighbours in Redditch, Worcestershire, contacted police on Saturday after seeing a man inside a car using a laptop while parked outside a house.

Zeph · Apr 18, 2007, 05:12 AM

Wow, good job cautioning the people using the wi-fi instead of getting the people handing it out for free taken care of.

OmegaRED · Apr 18, 2007, 05:28 AM

That's so goddamn stupid. Why do people not even put basic security on their Wi-Fi? Stealing their bandwidth is as simple as turning on your laptop and it automatically connects to unsecure networks, why should people be charged for that? If someone is dumb enough to let people access their internet freely than they should be held responsible for those that do anything illegal with that connection.

Rayder · Apr 18, 2007, 02:55 PM

If I was to get "cautioned" about stealing bandwidth, I'd just say, "It's not my fault they are too ignorant to secure their wireless connections."

I was out to visit my Mom the other day, my nieces and nephews were there too. We had our DS's with us. I wanted to look up something on the net real quick, but my Mom doesn't even have a PC, let alone a wireless connection, so I wandered around the apartment complex until I found some fool with an unsecured connection and looked up what I wanted to. It's not like I sat there for hours or anything.....maybe 15 minutes. It actually took longer to find an unsecured connection than it did to look up what I wanted to find. I see nothing wrong with that. The ability was just floating through the air for me to access. There was no malicious intent...I didn't know who I was tapping.

I would never attempt to use someones else's connection to do anything other than look-up some info on a webpage or check e-mail or something anyway. And with a Nintendo DS, it shouldn't take a noticeable amount of bandwidth from them anyway.

The_Neon_Cowboy · Apr 20, 2007, 08:51 AM

if you don't want others useing it close your DANG acess point!!!! I have two "open"
points reacable from my home but id mine open heck no, they could turn on WEP
or WPA or mac adress filterinmg. If they turn ofd the stupid bradcast SSID then
thier network is then mostly invisable anyways...

but no insted they stand around stuperd with thier mouths opened shocked
by why people are useing thier open acess point with NO security, DUH!

Apr 18, 2007, 04:36 AM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	Two cautioned over wi-fi 'theft' Source: BBC News ________ Two people have been cautioned for using people's wi-fi broadband internet connections without permission. Neighbours in Redditch, Worcestershire, contacted police on Saturday after seeing a man inside a car using a laptop while parked outside a house.

Apr 18, 2007, 05:12 AM	#2
Zeph DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 190 Rep Power: 0	Wow, good job cautioning the people using the wi-fi instead of getting the people handing it out for free taken care of. __________________

Apr 18, 2007, 05:28 AM	#3
OmegaRED Relapsed Gamer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Ottawa , Canada Posts: 5,688 Rep Power: 173 System Specs	That's so goddamn stupid. Why do people not even put basic security on their Wi-Fi? Stealing their bandwidth is as simple as turning on your laptop and it automatically connects to unsecure networks, why should people be charged for that? If someone is dumb enough to let people access their internet freely than they should be held responsible for those that do anything illegal with that connection. __________________ E Penis Specs: <------------- See System Specs

Apr 20, 2007, 08:51 AM	#5
The_Neon_Cowboy HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 16,009 Rep Power: 92 System Specs	if you don't want others useing it close your DANG acess point!!!! I have two "open" points reacable from my home but id mine open heck no, they could turn on WEP or WPA or mac adress filterinmg. If they turn ofd the stupid bradcast SSID then thier network is then mostly invisable anyways... but no insted they stand around stuperd with thier mouths opened shocked by why people are useing thier open acess point with NO security, DUH! __________________

Apr 18, 2007, 02:55 PM	#4
Rayder Mostly lurking lately.... Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 2,161 Rep Power: 73	If I was to get "cautioned" about stealing bandwidth, I'd just say, "It's not my fault they are too ignorant to secure their wireless connections." I was out to visit my Mom the other day, my nieces and nephews were there too. We had our DS's with us. I wanted to look up something on the net real quick, but my Mom doesn't even have a PC, let alone a wireless connection, so I wandered around the apartment complex until I found some fool with an unsecured connection and looked up what I wanted to. It's not like I sat there for hours or anything.....maybe 15 minutes. It actually took longer to find an unsecured connection than it did to look up what I wanted to find. I see nothing wrong with that. The ability was just floating through the air for me to access. There was no malicious intent...I didn't know who I was tapping. I would never attempt to use someones else's connection to do anything other than look-up some info on a webpage or check e-mail or something anyway. And with a Nintendo DS, it shouldn't take a noticeable amount of bandwidth from them anyway.