No he hasn’t...
He parked his car on private property to steal internet service.
1. It’s Trespassing.
2. It’s Stealing Bandwith
It’s no different than someone coming over the border illegally.
There are a lot of good decaffeinated brands on the market these days................
It’s no different than someone coming over the border illegally. Sure it is.
You could also argue that taking a straw from a street vendor's dispenser is the same thing as stealing a new Porsche. Both are theft.
...but that analysis hides the glaring differences too.
The "theft" of free WiFi service has these characteristics, in this case:
- The service was promiscuously available to anyone in the area for access.
- There was no attempt to secure the service in any way.
- There was no indication by the coffee shop that the service was authorized only for the use of its customers.
- The law under which the man was prosecuted was so obscure that the officer (and, presumably, the prosecutor) had to look it up. Because of this, the principles of malice or negligence are conspicuously absent.
- The cost to the coffee shop was minuscule, practically immeasurable. (Their free napkins probably cost them more)
- His use of the service did not deny that service to any of the shop's customers. In contrast, theft of some tangible object, such as a chair, would deny a customer a real benefit. No customer was denied WiFi service because of this man's usage.
There are lots of differences between "theft" of free WiFi service and illegal immigration. It's absurd and disingenuous of you to claim otherwise.