melchioe

I'm trying to convince some people about the illegality of actually connecting to a network (not just detecting, but connecting and/or actually using it). I have seen a number of references in these forums about laws, both federal and state (and I seem to recall even some city ordinances referred to), but I have not yet seen a direct reference to a particular law that prohibits connections. Also, I've seen some debate as to what constitutes the illegal act - some folks say connect, some folks say use.

Me, I won't even connect to see if I can get an IP number - but I've heard other folks (not on this forum) say it's not illegal unless you try to access a host on the network (a DHCP server would be a host, IMO). But they're trying to say that unless you go to a web site or telnet somewhere or something intentional like that, it doesn't constitute "using" a network. I disagree, but I haven't been able to find the appropriate laws to disprove their assertions.

Any pointers to any cases, statues, regulations, or ordinances would be most welcome.

daedalus04

Check the FAQ section. There are several references to WiFi and legal issues.
FAQ <-- Clickety

Hope this helps.

-Daedalus

Thorn

Regarding state laws, most have some "computer crime" statutes on the books. Those laws usually cover computer networks as well as individual computers. It just might require some reseach on you part to find specifics, but most state have their statutes online.

In addition, other crimes (such as Theft of Services) can be commited by this type of activity. McHale has reported that in Illinois, the State's Attorneys have successfully charged and convicted several people under the IL TOS law.

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Thorn
"Lawyers should never marry lawyers. This is called inbreeding. It produces idiot children and more lawyers."

melchioe

daedalus04: Thanks - although the only specific law ref I could find the the FAQ section was 18 U.S.C. 1030 - which is pretty clear on definition of computer, but for an individual sitting in their LR browsing using a neighbor's connection, it would be difficult to fix the damage at the $5000 threshold - there are many local IT security people who could examine and fix it (even at $300 per hour) for far less than $5000.

It uses phrases like "knowingly and with intent to defraud", which does not address the person who connects at home, goes somewhere else, and because they are clueless, unknowingly connect to a remote unsecured site. Let's say they don't *use* the connection, they're just connected (they use their computer to watch a DVD they own, or they play solitaire. According to many of the posts I see here, they'd be violating the law. Granted, they'd be unlikely to be prosecuted, and I've taken the situation I referred to above and twisted it (the original situation was to prove to individuals that they are not entitled to use a neighbor's wireless connection without consent), but I wonder about the actual illegality of that kind of connection - simply associating with an unsecured access point. It doesn't fall under TOS laws, (unless you consider DHCP giving them an IP number as theft of service).

Don't get me wrong, I think even connecting without using is wrong, I'm just looking for the legal specification that says simply connecting and not using is illegal. I'll continue to do research, just wondering if anyone has some directional pointers for me.

Now that I've warped away from the topic, I'll get back to my orginal programming on convincing stoopid folks that it's illegal to *take* what's not theirs:
Thorn, thanks for the pointer to IL TOS law, I'll do a bit of searching. I'll have more luck convincing people if I have technology oriented laws, but I'll take what I can get.

Thorn

Actually, for court pruposes, it would be pretty easy to go over $5k. It it's just the cost of securing the WLAN, it's also checking for viruses, etc. In addtion, every other network touched upon (like ISPs) is a victim under most laws, so each one can be included for estimating costs of securing, checking etc.

This is where the wording of the individual laws comes into play. Under the Vermont statute for instance, this is no intent requirement. Most likely those who framed the laws never thought of a possiblity where you might connect to a network without knowing where you've connected. Also in the Vermont law, just entering the network is a misdemeanor, but there is no definition of entering. Use of any services on the network elevates it to a felony.

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Thorn
"Lawyers should never marry lawyers. This is called inbreeding. It produces idiot children and more lawyers."

daedalus04

My personal take on it is this:

The federales were very careful in choosing their words when creating USC 1029 and 1030 - As they should be.

I think that it is written in such a way that IF they want to take you down, they can. I seriously doubt that any FBI agent would waste his time on nailing you for just being passively connected to your neighbors AP.

However, IF the agent is investigating you for other crimes, I'm sure he could have you arrested on charges of TOS or even hacking/cracking. This would give his team authority to confiscate all of your crap and look for more evidence against you.

Example: Al Capone, I believe, was picked up on charges of tax fraud. Clearly Mr. Ness wasn't pursuing Al just because of back taxes, right?

-Daedalus

melchioe

Good points, both daedalus04 and thorn. Thanks for the time, I'll take it from here (unless anyone else wants to help an inherently lazy researcher with any case law or specific links to text of laws...)