Michigan man arrested for using cafe's free WiFi from his car

from ars technica

By Jacqui Cheng | Published: May 22, 2007 - 10:37AM CT

A Michigan man is being prosecuted for using a cafe's free WiFi... from his car. Sam Peterson was arrested under a Michigan law barring access to anyone else's network without authorization, according to Michigan TV station WOOD. Since the cafe's WiFi network was reserved for customers, and Peterson never came into the cafe, he was essentially piggybacking off of the open network without authorization.

The arrest came about because Peterson apparently showed up to the Union Street Cafe to use its free WiFi from the comfort of his car, and he did so every single day. A police officer grew suspicious of Peterson and eventually questioned him as to what he was up to. Peterson, not realizing that what he was doing was (at least) ethically questionable, told the officer exactly what he was doing. "I knew that the Union Street had WiFi. I just went down and checked my e-mail and didn't see a problem with that," Peterson told a reporter.

Under Michigan's "Fraudulent access to computers, computer systems, and computer networks" law, Peterson's actions could result in a five-year felony and a $10,000 fine. However, prosecutors do not plan to throw the book at him, as they don't believe that Peterson was aware he was even breaking the law. Instead, he will pay a $400 fine and do 40 hours of community service, and the arrest will not go on his record.

Coincidentally, the cafe owner that Peterson was leeching WiFi off of didn't even realize that what Peterson was doing was a crime at the time. Neither did the police officer. "I had a feeling a law was being broken, but I didn't know exactly what," Sparta police chief Andrew Milanowski told the TV station.

This is not the first time someone has been arrested for piggybacking on a WiFi connection. In 2005, a Florida man was arrested and hit with a third-degree felony for surfing an open WiFi network from his SUV. Similarly, an Illinois man was arrested in 2006 for, again, using an unsecured WiFi network from his car. He pleaded guilty to the charges and was given one year's court supervision and a $250 fine. A Washington man was also arrested in 2006 for parking outside of a coffee shop and using the open WiFi connection without purchasing anything. And just earlier this year, an Alaska man was arrested for using the WiFi network from the public library after hours to play games from—you guessed it—his car in the parking lot.

Whether or not you agree with the legality of using an open WiFi network without the owner's authorization, one thing is painfully clear: if you're going to leech, try not to do it from a parked car right in front of the building.

Hahaha... dumbass and I know where that
cafe' is .. and in that neighbourhood, I sure
as fuck wouldn't sit in my car with a laptop...
unless I had my .357 sitting on the seat as well.

Sparta cops aren't all that smart... not too
many years ago a bunch of their cadets
were arrested for doing PIT maneuvers on
unsuspecting motorists... and people wonder
why Blackie Dammett decided to move out in
that area (Rockford to be more specific) I miss
hanging out with Blackie at the Intersection,
at least when it was still in Eastown... across
the street from Yesterdog... where Adam Herz,
writer of American Pie, spent a lot of time at
during his time as an Eastie... which he put in
the movie as Dog Years.

If you ever get the chance to pass through EGR,
Yesterdog and Argos Books are THE places to
stop into... Kava House, Billy's Martini Lounge
and Mulligan's Pub are high points as well.

I plead the Fifth:1orglaugh :thumb: I see no inherent right here, but this would never fly here in the Steel City. There would be noone left to prosecute the cases.

OEC

PS Sparta Police? Isnt that gig run by Archie Fuck'n Bunker?? My tv trivia card is very dated, but Im thinking it was.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OneEyedCat

I plead the Fifth:1orglaugh :thumb: I see no inherent right here, but this would never fly here in the Steel City. There would be noone left to prosecute the cases.

OEC

PS Sparta Police? Isnt that gig run by Archie Fuck'n Bunker?? My tv trivia card is very dated, but Im thinking it was.

---

Yeah, it's not that hard to get away with here,
just jump on any mode of public transport and
use the city's free WiFi... or sit in the terminal
or transfer station, most are actually nicer than
the cafe's... it IS Seattle for fucksake.

Hehe... you are correct... In the Heat of the Night,
originally the Sheriff was played by Rod Stieger
who was also in The Illustrated Man which was
written by Ray Bradbury.. which none of any of it
has to actually do with Sparta, MI when in fact
the Carol O' Connor show when he was cast
as Chief Bill Gillespie of Sparta, Mississippi :1orglaugh

Because you know...Michigan and Mississippi
are soooo much alike, especially when it comes
to stupid cops.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HempKnight

Yeah, it's not that hard to get away with here,
just jump on any mode of public transport and
use the city's free WiFi... or sit in the terminal
or transfer station, most are actually nicer than
the cafe's... it IS Seattle for fucksake.

Hehe... you are correct... In the Heat of the Night,
originally the Sheriff was played by Rod Stieger
who was also in The Illustrated Man which was
written by Ray Bradbury.. which none of any of it
has to actually do with Sparta, MI when in fact
the Carol O' Connor show when he was cast
as Chief Bill Gillespie of Sparta, Mississippi :1orglaugh

Because you know...Michigan and Mississippi
are soooo much alike, especially when it comes
to stupid cops.

---

:1orglaugh It's all Spartan to me. Minneapolis is doing something fairly smart. They're making a log-on network citywide for $20. Hell, some may even pay for it:1orglaugh :thumb:

OEC

It makes me wonder if they'll start busting on
people who pick up open hot spots with their
PDA's and other devices now... if I had a dollar
for every time I've seen some suit playing online
Sudoku walking around the city, I'd be rather
wealthy.

I know if we lived just a block further, we could
piggyback off the casino's WiFi or if I was so
inclined to put in the effort to crack the WEP
of the high school across the street, we'd have
'free' access.

When I was in Detroit and had an OC9 pipe,
I had thought of setting up an AP and offering
my neighbours discounted network access...
good way to see just what kind of freaks they
are by looking at their transfer logs :1orglaugh

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HempKnight

It makes me wonder if they'll start busting on
people who pick up open hot spots with their
PDA's and other devices now... if I had a dollar
for every time I've seen some suit playing online
Sudoku walking around the city, I'd be rather
wealthy.

I know if we lived just a block further, we could
piggyback off the casino's WiFi or if I was so
inclined to put in the effort to crack the WEP
of the high school across the street, we'd have
'free' access.

When I was in Detroit and had an OC9 pipe,
I had thought of setting up an AP and offering
my neighbours discounted network access...
good way to see just what kind of freaks they
are by looking at their transfer logs :1orglaugh

---

hahaha that'd be hilarious (but scary):1orglaugh :thumb:

OEC