Wireless Laws

[yellohut]

I was working on my brother's computer and realized that he's been hooking into a neighbor's wireless network instead of his own (it explained why he could no longer share files with his wired machine)

I explained to him that he was connecting to a neighbor's access point, and that's why he could get online, but not see the files, and I fixed the problem.

he wanted to know about the laws concerning hooking into someone elses network like that for internet access.. but I'm not sure of any. I told him that the other network users could see if he was on the network, but only if they looked for him.. and even then, they'd have a hard time tracking down which apartment he was in.

my question to you guys is, what are the laws regarding this? I know it's morally wrong (unless it's an honest mistake like this case) but is it illegal? on a side notw, IMO it's the network administrator's responsibility to make it difficult for people to hack into a network, with MAC filtering or encryption, but I know not everyone knows enough to do this. Should we try to find the person who's network this is to let them know, so it doesn't happen again?

[Big Weapons]

You should inform the person. However if you live in a big complex you might have a problem doing so. I myself live in a neighborhood with about a dozen different open networks I can easily log into and steal bandwidth. However, I don't because my cable connection is faster >= D

A little google search brought this link up: http://www.netstumbler.org/archive/index.php/t-11736

[flanzig1]

Using someone elses wireless access is the same as tapping into someones telephone or cable connection. Whether it is wired or wireless, it's theft. If you can find the person , sure mention the problem of the open access(and not the actual usage of it).

[mbossman2]

there are laws about accessing a computer network without prior consent...

in this case, if he did it unintentionally, no one will come and rain on his parade. Now that he does know that he is doing it, he should refrain from accessing that network to get his internet connection (and if he already has high speed access, I can see no legitmate reason for him to do so)

[yellohut]

Thanks for the quick replies!
I set up my brother's network to only allow his computer, and his computer to not hook into his neighbors, he's not versed enough in wireless technologies to change it.

I thought about tracking down the owner of the open network (there are 3 others he can see, but they are encrypted), but finding the person would involve me knocking on about a dozen doors, and then getting the person who answers to believe that i'm an honest person, and not someone trying to scam them (which is hard to do nowadays)

[yellohut]

Well, I did a little more research and found that in Florida (where I live) Accessing someone else's network like this is illegal;

Florida State Statute Title XLVI Chapter 815.06
Offenses against computer users.--
(1) Whoever willfully, knowingly, and without authorization:
(a) Accesses or causes to be accessed any computer, computer system, or computer network;

there's more here if anyone's interested.

Originally Posted by yellohut Well, I did a little more research and found that in Florida (where I live) Accessing someone else's network like this is illegal; Florida State Statute Title XLVI Chapter 815.06 Offenses against computer users.-- (1) Whoever willfully, knowingly, and without authorization: (a) Accesses or causes to be accessed any computer, computer system, or computer network; there's more here if anyone's interested.

Thanks for the info, I wonder how many other states have similar laws.