Re: Pls help - want to travel wirelessly and ckeck emails

In article <YRKKf.440065$qk4.44354@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, John Navas <spamfilter0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
[POSTED TO alt.internet.wireless - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <43f87f90$0$95961$742ec2ed@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> on Sun, 19 Feb 2006 06:24:21
-0800, SMS <scharf.steven@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Eric wrote:
Gotta agree with what you're really getting at, John. And I hope the
original poster got it. If not, she could well end up "leaving on
vacation, coming home on probation, and going back on violation."

Cite any law that makes it 'illegal'. You will find that they aren't any.

The 'ethics' can be, I'll agree, argued but it isn't 'illegal'. No crime,
no criminal court. Civil? Judge Judy would call the WAP owner ignorant.
You'd have to take your case before TV's 'Moral Court'.

On the federal level it's not illegal, well maybe it is, ""A broad
statement concerning the access of unprotected wireless networks as
being always legal or illegal simply can't be made," said Jackie Lesch,
a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice. "It's just kind of dicey."

Yet another selective quotation. From that same article
<http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/08/technology/personaltech/internet_piracy/>:

On the state level it could be more clear. "It's unlawful access", said
John Geraty, an officer with the Internet crimes against children unit of
the San Francisco Police Department.

According to Geraty, using your neighbor's wireless is specifically
prohibited in the California penal code. "It's not yours and you're taking
it," he says.

I know you've seen (and likely responded to help) questions here of people
attaching to networks that aren't thiers by accident. You know the line
'how do I make my laptop/whatever associate with my AP and not my
neighbors'. Now I understand ignorance of the law is no excuse, but what
about ignorance of what your computer is doing? And let us be honest here
there are more then a few people out there with laptops that have no
clue. I even did this on my laptop the other day with a neighbor's AP. I
had cleared out the list of networks (had gotten too large and so just went
crazy) in WZC. I flipped on the laptop had forgotten my madness earlier in
the day and could not figure out (well for a few minutes) why I could not
browse my own network, email etc were working fine. After a few minutes of
head scratching finally looked at what am I connected to.

This was purely unintentional on my part, is ignorance of what my computer
is doing now illegal? I even find myself wondering about the burden of
proof in a case like this, what about the question of intent. I know you
aren't a lawyer, but it seems to me there is a lot of gray in this area.

fundamentalism, fundamentally wrong.
.

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