First piggybacking arrests in UK
Two people have been arrested and cautioned for
using someone else’s wireless Internet connection without permission,
known as “piggy-backing,” British police said on
Wednesday.
Two people have been arrested and cautioned for using someone else’s wireless Internet connection without permission, known as “piggy-backing,” police said on Wednesday.
On Saturday, a man was arrested after neighbors spotted him sitting in a car outside a home in Redditch, Worcestershire, using a laptop computer to browse the Internet.
A 29-year-old woman was also arrested in a car in a similar incident in the same area last month. Both received an official caution, a formal warning one step short of prosecution, for “dishonestly obtaining electronic communications services with intent to avoid payment.”
They were among the first to be arrested for piggy-backing in Britain.
The UK ain’t especially different from the US. No patch for stupidity. Up to a quarter or more of home wireless connections there are unsecured. Same for business wi-fi.
The last arrest like this around here was thrown out - when the business owner testified he told people he left the system open 24/7 so people without internet access could log on.
Posted: Thu - April 19, 2007 at 07:45 AM