Re: [MLUG] Looking 4 mad cheap PCI wireless cards

[Mike Miller <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On Thu, 21 Oct 2004, Rick Buford wrote:

> If you actually bypass even weak security to use their system, then I 
> could see how they might have a case. But, I have a hard time believing 
> that they could successfully prosecute simply using their wide open 
> network.


This is also what I am thinking - they can prosecute people for what they 
*do*.  Guessing that the password is 'linksys' is doing something, and 
could be a criminal act (as ridiculous as that seems), but simply telling 
your computer to connect to an open network is barely an act at all. 
Besides, what reason do we have to think that the owner of the wifi access 
point doesn't want people to use his network?

Using a Pringles can to find wireless networks is a different story, but 
it isn't much different.  If someone threatened to prosecute me for doing 
that, I would argue that I am only trying to take advantage of what people 
are making available to me.  If people leave their network wide open, I 
would think they are trying to share their network with their neighbors. 
Why not participate?  We know that people do leave these things open 
intentionally.  Anyone who read his router documentation would know what 
he has done.  So how can it be a crime to partake?

Mike
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