[ale] wireless at Starbucks

[krwatson at cc.gatech.edu]

I have been working on a paper about this very issue. There have been numerous cases of people being successfully prosecuted for using an unsecured wireless network without permission. The courts are currently on the fence as to whether the owner of an unsecured wireless network is complicit in a crime committed by a third party. It will be interesting to see how this plays out and what the impact will be on free hotspots.

Personally I've always subscribed to the simple philosophy that it's not my property therefore I have no right to use it unless I have been given permission.

My home wireless network is secured to prevent illicit behavior and to comply with my IPS' AUP.

keith

 --

Keith R. Watson                        Georgia Institute of Technology
Systems Support Specialist IV          College of Computing
keith.watson at cc.gatech.edu             801 Atlantic Drive NW
(404) 385-7401                         Atlanta, GA  30332-0280