Posted on 05/31/2007 12:51:13 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
A Michigan man has been fined $400 and given 40 hours of community service for accessing an open wireless Internet connection outside a coffee shop.
Under a little known state law against computer hackers, Sam Peterson II, of Cedar Springs, Mich., faced a felony charge after cops found him on March 27 sitting in front of the Re-Union Street Café in Sparta, Mich., surfing the Web from his brand-new laptop.
Last week, Peterson chose the fine as part of a jail-diversion program.
"I think a lot of people should be shocked, because quite honestly, I still don't understand it myself," Peterson told FOXNews.com "I do not understand how this is illegal."
His troubles began in March, a couple of weeks after he had bought his first laptop computer.
Peterson, a 39-year-old tool maker, volunteer firefighter and secretary of a bagpipe band, wanted to use his 30-minute lunch hour to check e-mails for his bagpipe group.
He got on the Internet by tapping into the local coffee shop's wireless network, but instead of going inside the shop to use the free Wi-Fi offered to paying customers, he chose to remain in his car and piggyback off the network, which he said didn't require a password.
He used the system on his lunch breaks for more than a week, and then the police showed up.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
A real man! I respect you.
Like I said, I do agree with most of what you are saying.
And hey, I had to back down on something in this thread too because I was wrong...
Of course I see the analogy in that - do you see what I’m saying about the diminishing respect for private property as evidenced by so many using wireless internet and downloading copyrighted music and video without permission?
Do you see where an increasing disrespect for private property leads? Is it good place for our country?
Speak for yourself.
Post 315.
Now are you going to support your statement?
A much needed funny for the thread!! thanks
Now -- to the issue at hand. I have no doubt that a zealous prosecutor could pursue the restaurant for false advertising.
The restaurant is violating section 445.356 of Michigan law. 445.356 Advertisement; untrue, deceptive, or misleading statement or representation; failure or refusal to sell in manner or at price advertised; determination of deceptive or misleading advertising; intent not to sell; defective, blemished, or rejected goods, merchandise, or commodities; seconds; identification.
(Details here: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(mdu1klyhybcddavxtein1b45))/mileg.aspx?page=getObject&objectName=mcl-445-356)
Is the restaurant advertising something for free?
Answer: Yes.
Is the restaurant providing the promised item/service for free?
Answer: No. The implicit requirement of purchase by use of the word "customer" contradicts the promise of "free."
The restaurant's sign says: FREE WI-FI CUSTOMER'S ONLY (grammatical error in the original)
Now clearly this is a contradiction. Either the Wi-Fi access is FREE. Or it is for customers whereupon the service is provided with purchase. Providing a service with purchase is something included with the purchase. It is not FREE.
The subsection of the law says this: (1) A person shall not knowingly make, publish, disseminate, circulate, or place before the public an advertisement which contains a statement or representation which is untrue, deceptive, or misleading.
Up next -- an investigative report exposing the jaywalking epidemic in Sparta! Will the last business owner in Michigan please turn out the lights? Jeff Daniels, you never fooled me with your ads!
- parked your car in parking lot to wait for somebody or meet sombody?
- Turned around or made a K turn and made contact with somebody's driveway?
-gl;aned at a newspaper headline over somebody's shoulder or in a vending machine?
If so, then maybe you belong in jail. This disrespect for private property has to stop!
from a sililar thread;
“The loss of the concept of right and wrong is a bad thing.”
Great point and over the head of so many these days.
If the access was in fact authorized by the coffee shop... his lawyer makes a call to the coffee shop and gets a letter attesting to the fact.
Letter delivered to State Attorney... end of case.
I think the guy and his lawyer were both fools.
When I do those things I do them with the utmost respect for the owner of the property - and I don’t have a problem with people doing the same with my property if they show the same respect.
It’s people who belittle the concept of private property that I don’t respect.
Private property is sacred and the respect of it is the ethical foundation for this great nation of our ours.
That you make fun of it on FreeRepublic shows how far we as a nation have fallen.
It sounds like the cops were unsure if a law was broken. One can also chalk up another win for those wanting all to have some sort of criminal record. Larceny by Conversion prevents a CCW for three years in Michigan. N3WBI3 will be tickled he can be a tattler and contact the police chief in Cedar Springs, Michigan to check for the volunteer firefighter having a CCW. I think a warning should have sufficed, and the cops could have gotten back to busting meth labs in Cedar Springs.
Apparently not.
It's hard to take that seriously in this case when the property you are talking about is rf signals, those signals are provided and advertised as free and the person who "owns" them has no problem with someone using them and not paying.
As an aside, if I ran by your house everyday, and you had your garden hose on spilling water into the street, would you have a problem with me taking a drink without asking?
Well if you didn’t pee on my lawn after you took a drink I wouldn’t mind.
Heh. I use the fire hydrant.
The shop could have taken any number of steps to limit access to the signal. They chose not to...
The sign, as far as I can tell, didn’t say that. In fact, the owner of shop has said that she didn’t care that this man didn’t buy anything in her store.
Again, it is THE STATE that has their back up about this, not the owner of the alleged property. Ayn would not like that at all...
Yes. My carrier's plan provides free roaming withing the United States. But I don't see how that matters. Whether the service for fee or for free is are not addressed in the Michigan statute under the authorization clause and besides that the coffee shop was advertising "free wifi."
Yes, that’s the one.
A nice rest stop too. The state of Iowa keeps it clean. I guess they work a little harder at it because of all the tourism info upstairs.
I hadn’t stopped by there in 3-4 years. I was astounded at the casino and hotel located across from the rest stop. Briefly toyed with going over to the casino and dropping some quarters in a few slot machines - but the girlfriend gave me “The Look”.
Maybe next time.
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