“But if they left their system wide open, they should have no case.”
“If they project their signal beyond their enclosure how can they complain?”
“Personally, if you don’t secure your system in the most basic way...it is free access.”
I don’t agree at all. If I don’t lock the doors on my house or car does that mean a thief had a right to steal my private property that I bought and paid for with my blood sweat and tears?
No it doesn’t.
People need to learn to respect private property.
How far does your ‘private property ‘extend?
People need to take security measures on their systems, whether it’s legal or not. They are BEGGING for problems if they leave it wide open. Especially in this day and time when many cities and business DO OFFER ACCESS FOR FREE!
I just see it as tacit approval for the general pubic to use your services since they are unlocked and have left your property. If I have to come onto your property to use them, that is a different deal.
You are way off base here. You are out-thinking yourself big time. Your analogy about locking your house versus locking your access point is apples and oranges.
The coffee shop offers free access. If they want that locked down then they should lock it down. It is very simple. This person is not hacking. He is simply using free wireless access.
Granted he is a mooch but nothing more. To say this is the equivalent of stealing is ridiculous. Dont make such a big deal out of it.
You're clearly not a computer person. A WiFi node can be run in locked mode or in unlocked mode, as this one was, as a customer convenience. If unlocked, the owner can have a notice come up, "For use of our customers only...". This coffee shop not only did not do that, but did not press charges against this heinous perpetrator. A messianic sphincter DA had to take special pains to spend the taxpayer funds it took to pursue this case.
Your comments are all well and good, but in this case, what was "taken" was most definitely NOT "private property".
The very fact that the coffee shop had gone out of its way to establish a wireless network, free and open, that ANYone could log onto simply by opening up their laptop, takes this out of the realm of "private" property.
They were offering their unencrypted and unprotected signal "for free".
If they had intended that it be for paying customers only, then they should have posted a notice stating as much at the location (even if it was posted inside, and not visible from the parking lot).
No notice, and again - they purposely provided an "open access point".
The owner (manager) of the shop said as much by saying he was welcome to the service, even if he was not a customer.
How can you steal something that is intentionally being given away?
- John
If you put your property on the curb with a sign saying TAKE ME, your property will be taken.
Not the same thing. Comparing this to someone breaking in to your house to steal your property is hyperbole.
They offer the service for free, and they didn’t secure their network, which goes against the most basic common sense. IMO they’d have a much better case if they just secured it with a password.