[alicewong]

is it legal to surf on a wireless network i find?so i hook up my wireless card to pc and i scan for networks thinking my router was pluged in. well i was surfing on some other guys roter is it legal?

[AccusaJalsBub]

No, it's not.

[AlissBart]

Nope, illegal and people have been prosecuted for doing such things.

One thing about being on an un-secured wireless network too is that other people can access your machine if they have the skills. My friend found someone getting into his wireless network and using his internet so he turned the tables and went on a deleting spree through his machine. Bare that in mind when you log onto someones network.

[janeemljr]

Is there any law on it, or is just a common no no? I think that one should not get into any trouble if it isn't passworded or encrypted. It is your own fault if you don't do such a thing, not the unknown users fault.

If a bank has wireless and has it open, it then would be the banks fault for getting hacked into or just used for internet. (just because it is a bank, even the unknown user). But if the bank had it protected and it was hacked into, there would be no fault in the bank, and 100% of it would be the unknown user.


Plus with places like Panera offering free online services, all that is doing is giving people the wrong idea. And even places like Star Bucks were you have to pay to use. If these average people find it at their house, they are just going to be like "Oh sweet, I don't have to pay like at Star Bucks, reminds me more of Panera's services as it is open and free."



I used to have wireless internet. If someone got on, I would be pissed but know that it was 100% my fault that they got on. But if I passworded it, I would get pissed if they got in, and would do something about it, because it is 0% my fault.

[alicewong]

i have 811 g or what ever its called how far can my card pick up a signal?

[AlissBart]

i have 811 g or what ever its called how far can my card pick up a signal?

Its more to do with how strong a signal the router can put out. The wirless network could be a few streets away but the guy has a super powered router, or he could be next door with a cheapy one.

[alicewong]

i think mcdonals whcih has free wireless is like 2500 feet away maybe 3000 but there is realy nothing in the way

[ZXRamon]

I think that one should not get into any trouble if it isn't passworded or encrypted. It is your own fault if you don't do such a thing, not the unknown users fault.

So if you leave your house unlocked and somebody burgles your home it's not the burglar's fault?

[alicewong]

how do ya know they dont want ya to be able to use there isp? i mean there are some super kind people out there.i mean it aint brain surgery to at least have a key.or some simple security

[tomsmuidh]

The way I see it is as long as you aren't downloading anything dodgy then no real harm.

[Toninvell]

It's definitely illegal.

[janeemljr]

So if you leave your house unlocked and somebody burgles your home it's not the burglar's fault?

You left the door open didn't you? Sure you might want to hunt him down and get your stuff back, but that would have never happened if you lock up your house.

If you don't lock up your stuff, you are basically asking for it to happen.

[Johnny]

You left the door open didn't you? Sure you might want to hunt him down and get your stuff back, but that would have never happened if you lock up your house.

If you don't lock up your stuff, you are basically asking for it to happen.

It's still not legal to go into others peoples houses, door locked or not. You seem to have missed the point.

[KeestRast]

You left the door open didn't you? Sure you might want to hunt him down and get your stuff back, but that would have never happened if you lock up your house.

If you don't lock up your stuff, you are basically asking for it to happen.

Luckily the law doesn't work this way.

You ran infront of my gun while I was on a killing spree? Sure, you might want to have lived a bit longer, but that would have never happened if you wouldn't have left your house.

[Kokomoxcvcv]

If a user is foolish enough to leave it open, and then complain, they have no right. On the same page, Windows usually connects automatically to networks in range, so someone playing the dumb card saying they didn't know to protect it would be countered with the other person playing dumb.

[GaryBulguihb]

If a user is foolish enough to leave it open, and then complain, they have no right. On the same page, Windows usually connects automatically to networks in range, so someone playing the dumb card saying they didn't know to protect it would be countered with the other person playing dumb.

So for people who are technically incompetent and don't secure their PCs behind firewalls, it's their fault if I hack into them?

The immaturity of some of you guys never ceases to amaze and surprise me.

[LorencoLoricelli]

It's still not legal to go into others peoples houses, door locked or not. You seem to have missed the point.

Actually if that happened in the UK, when you left your door unlocked or open, the person doing it would not be breaking the law unless they made a forced entry, as unless the building or property is Government owned, there is no law of Trespass on civilian property unless something is broken whilst gaining entry.

So if you lived in the UK and popped across the road to borrow some sugar/milk etc off a friend and left your door open or unlocked, and then came back to find a stranger had walked into your house, the most you could do is ask them to leave, If you tried to force them to leave by physically taking hold of them, the stranger could then have you arrested for assault.

It sounds dumb, but its absolutely true, and with the Police in the UK being as dumb about other such silly laws, then you'd likely find yourself in court or having to pay compensation to some little oik who wandered into your house and you rightly broke both his legs after finding him pilfering all your valuables.[cursing]

Anyway, with regards to hopping onto your neighbours "free" unsecured wireless connection, its called "piggybacking" in the UK and as most here have stated, It is Illegal, as you would be stealing someone elses bandwidth.

I'm sure a lot of it goes on though, especially in larger cities with houses in close proximity to each other and especially with people in blocks of flats etc.

As most routers are capable of outputting a signal that can be received at least to a distance of several hundred feet by even cheap built in wireless on a laptop, When you add in something like the easily built "wokfi" which I use for finding "hotspots",

http://www.usbwifi.orcon.net.nz/

With my cheap wokFi, I can pick up any router signal from as much as 12 miles away,
From my present work location, I can pick up 8 AP's, 6 secured and 2 unsecured, the furthest is about 11 miles away.

From home, the furthest is 8 miles away, and I pick up about 14, only 2 are secure ( DOH!!!! [rolleyes] ).

I've personally stopped windows from making an auto connection and just enjoy mapping AP's especially from the top of my local mountains, if I did wanna connect, I could do so to dozens PC's and cause untold damge to peoples PC's or even use other peoples PC's for my own nefarious uses [rofl] , not that I ever would of course.

[Kokomoxcvcv]

So for people who are technically incompetent and don't secure their PCs behind firewalls, it's their fault if I hack into them?

The immaturity of some of you guys never ceases to amaze and surprise me.

Where did I say hack? Turn a laptop on with Wi-Fi enbaled and a Windows will say "Ooo! I found internet! Connexzor!?" and an average user will click ok with joy! How about you read my post before you comment, ok?

[gogoleanylinkfo]

I never did that, but if someone sued me for using their UNPROTECTED internet, i would sue them back for invading my house with their wireless signals.

That "unlocked door" logic its just crap, their wireless is invading your house totally open. If i get home and find an unlocked safe in my room, you can be sure i'll take a peak.

It's probably not how the law works, but oh well.

[Johnny]

I never did that, but if someone sued me for using their UNPROTECTED internet, i would sue them back for invading my house with their wireless signals.

That "unlocked door" logic its just crap, their wireless is invading your house totally open. If i get home and find an unlocked safe in my room, you can be sure i'll take a peak.

It's probably not how the law works, but oh well.

Someone leaving an unlocked safe in YOUR house is a whole other story than you going thorugh your neighbours open door and find an open safe. [rolleyes]

Interesting info there Snoopy, I had no idea that UK laws were so different in this regard to the ones in Sweden.