Man arrested for stealing broadband

peter999

jw1096 wrote: »

Given that the last person I saw sitting on my wall happened to be casing the area and broke into my neighbours car as he didnt realise I was watching at 4am - forgive me for being concerned about my neighbourhood. Besides which, if you are on my property without consent then it is my business

If someone was sitting in a car on road using a mobile or laptop, would you phone the Police ??

What would you report ??

peter999

geo555

I think the only reason such a the papers made a big deal of this is the fact that it was one of the few occasions that a PCSO has actually arrested someone.

normanmark

peter999 wrote: »

If someone was sitting in a car on road using a mobile or laptop, would you phone the Police ??

What would you report ??

peter999

Can we change your username to 'pedantic999' ?

BWZN93

peter999 wrote: »

If someone was sitting in a car on road using a mobile or laptop, would you phone the Police ??

What would you report ??

peter999

Yeah I would, id say, There is someone sitting outside my home in their car acting suspiciously and he has been there for the last hour. Second of all, the last time someone was hanging around outside my home in a car for an extended period of time, his mate was robbing copper pipes from the half built new build around the back of my house. And the time before that, some dodgy git was taking photos of kids being picked up from the local nursery. The time before that, some kids tried to nick my moped. Im not being a jerk or anything, but im usually correct in my suspicions, and they get reported. I actually care about my neighbourhood and neighbours, as well as my own property. So dont presume that im some kind of idiot, because I can assure you im not.

Jo x

jamesd

Do note that nowhere in the story was any suggestion that anyone complained about the use of their internet connection. All we know so far is that someone had set up a wireless internet connection to be open for use by anyone and that the police decided to arrest the gentleman using that publicly accessible connection.

It's not illegal to use a wireless internet connection where the owner intends for you to use it. The difficulty is practical: telling the difference between people who deliberately leave their connection available for all and those who are just clueless.

The net effect, if it was unintended, is comparable to reading a paperback book using the light from your living room. I can think of more pressing things to worry about than someone using my light, even if I don't want them to. I can easily turn it off or close the curtains if it bothers me. So should anyone who is upset about what this gentleman was doing, regardless of whether it was with or without the consent of the operator of the publicly usable access point.

My own uses "(private)" in it's name and is encrypted. No ambiguity about my intent there.