Illinois Man Fined For Piggybacking On Wi-Fi Service

[Jadis]

By Antone Gonsalves
TechWeb.com
Fri Mar 24, 9:20 PM ET

In Illinois, riding piggyback on someone else's Wi-Fi could cost you some money.

David M. Kauchak, 32, pleaded guilty this week in Winnebago County to remotely accessing someone else's computer system without permission, the Rockford Register Star newspaper reported. A Winnebago County judge fined Kauchak $250 and sentenced him to one year of court supervision.

Kauchak has the dubious distinction of being the first person to face the charge in Winnebago County, and prosecutors say they're taking the crime seriously.

"We just want to get the word out that it is a crime. We are prosecuting it, and people need to take precautions," Assistant State's Attorney Tom Wartowski told the newspaper.

More (http://www.techweb.com/wire/mobile/183702832;jsessionid=NDSB3PG5VMUD2QSNDBCCKHSCJUMEK JVN)

[metronycguy]

wow that's weird, i am surprised they even have a law on the books concerning it? in nyc many of the parks have free wifi, libraries do too.
i think you can restrict the wi fi signal so that only people you give the authorisation to can connect. you would think that if you don't want other people to connect you would turn this on.
i wonder if the person was doing something else more sinister, like using the wi fi connection to send hate mail or stalk , troll someone and that was tracked down to the wifi routers isp?
since he pleaded guilty it may have been a plea bargain rather than face trial for the real crime..

[Jadis]

I'm guessing there is a difference between NYC and other areas offering free wi-fi and trolling outside houses to hook up to their internet connection.

yes, it would make sense to lock up the connection, but you must realize that most people do well to get online and check their email. doing so from a wifi connection is "cool" but they don't realize the security risks of doing so without locking the connection.

believe it or not, there are still those online with windoze and use absolutely no virus protection of any kind. they don't think they need to since they don't go to questionable sites or think they are immune.

[Patonb]

I wonder how they found them....Seeing as you can be anywhere in the bubble. Wonder if they gave an address to a site and they tracked that.

hmmmmmm Know a few people who do this, including someone on here..

[mr_coffee]

If he's stealing internet connection u would think he wouldn't be such a tard about it. He was probably parked right outside their house lol. Mommy that weird man with the laptop is in our driveway again.

[metronycguy]

there must be more to the story, cops in this town have nothing better to do than bother someone sitting in their car with a laptop? so many people work out of their cars with laptops logging in their appointments, looking up directions , catching up in between customer visits. . verizon sells a broadband service that is good across the usa , how would cop know its not a legitimate service?.
something else was going on here and they plead guilty as a plea deal.
unless the local broadband provider also owns the police force and wants to insure they increase there revenues.

[Jadis]

If he's stealing internet connection u would think he wouldn't be such a tard about it. He was probably parked right outside their house lol. Mommy that weird man with the laptop is in our driveway again.

he was, if u read the rest of it under the link, it tells how he was caught:
A police officer arrested Kauchak in January after spotting him sitting in a parked car with a computer. A chat with the suspect led to the arrest, Wartowski said.

[metronycguy]

i found a couple more stories about this on the net with a lot more clearer details, but i am still am not convinced what he plead guilty too is what he was really doing.
one article said the place came upon him at 3am in a deserted office park with his laptop on while seated in a car. of course the guys not much of a criminal cause he fessed up that he was connected to the non profit connection.
why someone would go out at 3am to surf the web is beyond me. maybe they don't have high speed at home? still weird though.
most laptops will do this automatically even in a coffee shop, you get dropped out of the network and it automatically connects to the strongest signal which may be neighboring business, an unauthorized connection just like this story.

[Jadis]

I guess it depends on the state you're in. A guy in Florida was arrested (http://money.cnn.com/2005/07/07/technology/personaltech/wireless_arrest/index.htm) for doing the same thing. Not sure if he hacked the pwd or not, or even if there was one.

Location also seems to play a part.

"If you're in a Manhattan building with 30 apartments that's one thing," said Julie Ask, research director at the technology consultants Jupiter Research. "But if you're the guy who parks your car in front of a suburban house in the middle of the night and you've got the screen from your laptop glowing, well..." speaking of a man who was arrested earlier this month in Florida for just that. From article: Stealing your neighbor's Net (http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/08/technology/personaltech/internet_piracy/index.htm)

[metronycguy]

yeah i read the florida one too, he was actually the first in the usa.
again that one sounds weird too ? why pull into someones driveway?
some of these cases may have been where the person was actauly attmpting to do something more illegal like hacking into the computer for information and files,
you would think if they were doing kiddy porn stuff the laptop itself would prove that.
one thing i have learned from my political advocacy stuff is keep your mouth shut when being questioned by cops. if that guy in winnebago didn't admit what he was doing , he probably couldn't have been charged.
than again paying $250 would be cheaper than hiring the attorney to beat it ,
bad choice on that guys part, should have at least tried to get it dismissed if he doesn't get in trouble for a year. doesn't look good on a job application