I remember reading about this a little while back. I really don't see what difference it makes if the cafe offers free wi-fi service anyway, I mean he's just right outside. It does seem a little weird that he would sit outside every day to use it though..

I have to confess- when I lived in an apartment I had a strong wi-fi signal from "Jennifer" so I never paid for internet. I pay for my own now that I have a house, but I don't understand why people don't just make their network secure if this is such a problem...

If it's "free for customers" then I see their point. But if it's just free, then this charge is outrageous.

The fine and community service sounds like exccessive punishment to me considering the "offense."

They could have a passkey that they change every day. The code could print on the receipt to use the internet. Also, this may seem harsh but....if you are not going to secure it, your loss? I pay for my internet. and i have used it in my car at other's people's places...but only twice...once at my boyf's house because i was locked out, and once at my fathers place of business cause i needed to. haha.

That's ridiculous. If they aren't smart enough to password protect then they have to assume they're going to be sharing with piggybackers.

They had it available for free, people are going to use it for free, inside the store or not.

And if youre ganna be scamming wi-fi, do it in stealth mode if you can. Not that I reccomend doing it all the time, but once in a while, you can be caught in a jam far from home, and you need to look something up, and you happen to have your laptop with you.

Ive scammed unsecured wi-fi when I had to, my place was unavailable for high speed internet services, and I used dial-up when I could, but that is annoying at this day and age...but now I have wifi at home so I dont need to.

I think a bunch of people have done this a bunch of times over. Im sorry that this guy got caught.

how do you scam in stealth mode?

I remember hearing about this!

He did not deserve that fine, and don't even get me started on the community service... unbearably ridiculous...

Very unfair, he didn't deserve it, after all it was FREE. People should password protect their networks if they don't want people to "share." I know lots of people who mooch off a faster signal, is it really that wrong?

poor guy. That's very unfair.

This was wayyy harsh. It should be up to the owner of the wifi signal to secure it. Don't the police have better things to do?

Somethings not right about this.

There is no such thing as stealth mode. The end. I am an IT student in Wisconsin so I would like to enlighten you as to why there is no such thing as stealth mode. To access any network you need an IP address. An IP address uniquely defines you on the network and is NEEDED to interact with that network. Part of the process of obtaining an IP address is basically telling a DHCP server what you MAC address is. A MAC address uniquely defines a network interface and never changes. It is branded on every network card as it manufactured. MAC addresses are stored on wireless routers for up to seven days after you have disconnected from the network. Therefore for at least 7 days after you completely leave the area ANYBODY that has access to the router (not just police or coffee house owners) can see that you have been connected to that network. If you don't understand any of that. Just google it. Also if anybody uses internet cafes to check email just don't. That is another really stupid idea. Wi-Fi is a broadcast transmission and anybody with a Wi-Fi card within about 100 feet of you can monitor and use any information you send over the internet while using wireless internet. I should know I did a case study on Wi-Fi. I sat at an internet cafe for 3 hours and acquired 15 credit card numbers. While I didn't use the numbers or disclose them to anybody it really does show exactly what is possible.

Technically, I think there is a difference between complimentary and FREE. Complimentary implies it's part of the package. For example you get complimentary breadstick and salad refills at Olive Garden. FREE means that you could go in the restaurant and ask for salad and breadsticks.

In the same way, venues should be clear about the Wi-Fi being FREE or complimentary. If it's free, put FREE in the SSID to not confuse people.

A "stealth" AP (Access Point), or broadband WiFi router, is one that has the capability and is configured to not broadcast its SSID (Service Set Identifier), also known as the network name. This is the WLAN (WiFi Local Area Network) network name that appears when a DMU (Device Management Utility, such as Intel® PROSet, etc.) scans for available WLANs. It is commonly considered a security feature, albeit a weak one, in that it does not readily disclose the presence of the WLAN.

To connect to a stealth mode AP/router, a user must specifically know the SSID and configure his/her DMU accordingly. The feature is not a part of the 802.11 specification, and is known by differing names by various vendors - closed mode, private network, SSID broadcasting, etc.

I live about 10 miles from where the incident occurred. One major key in all of this is that the coffee shop decided not to file charges and furthermore thought the whole situation to be outrageous. I guess the cops in the area are a little bored.

Nonetheless, it is stupid to put such a law against it. If the coffee shop was worried about it they can use wifi hotspot software. You know, the kind that makes you accept an agreement before using the service.

TylersFat was responding to Nightwind's comment that you should browse in "stealth mode" when you are on someone else's network. Nightwind was probably referring to the private browsing mode in Safari, or settings on her firewall that prevent pings and the like, and TylersFat is right: they can see you were on the network, for the reasons he listed. There isn't any way to hide that. The mode YOU are talking about is a mode for a network to be in to hide the network from people on piggybacking.

On topic, this is the stupidest thing I've ever heard, but not the first time that someone has been charged with piggybacking. It's one thing when it is someone's private network, but when it is advertised as free, I guess it doesn't mean free in Michigan. Even worse, if he had just been inside, he wouldn't have been charged. Doesn't make sense at all.

Sounds to me like the cop doesn't have enough to do. Let me guess. He sits for hours in the coffee shop and happened to notice the guy sitting outside then investigated. Having too little to do, he had to make an arrest for this terrible crime. And then there is the shop owner. She has so much business that she chose to prosecute this guy instead of inviting him inside for a cup of coffee and turning him into a customer. Wow! What a screwed up town. Then there is the press. No one has named the city or the business that prosecuted. Why not?

The real travesty here is the fact that he was originally issued a felony warrant.

Soon afterward, a warrant was issued for Peterson's arrest on a "five year felony, $10,000 fine."

While he may have never been charged, commited, or convicted of a felony offense that warrant will linger and haunt him for the rest of his life. While actual charges can be expunged, the issuing of a warrant cannot be. Every back ground check will pull this up. Easy enough to explain away, assuming that whomever is doing the background check gives you the opportunity, which is rare.

Just another day in our corrupted justice system.

If you have an unsecured wireless network set up then it's an open invitation for anyone to connect to. This is ridiculous and there is nothing illegal about it.

Sometimes I go round the block with my car letting my computer stay on the passenger seat searching for a signal. When you're in the middle of nowhere that's the only way to get some of that sweet sweet Internet.

This is so ridiculous. WiFi needs to be OPEN. It should be 100% free for anyone to use, and it should NEVER need to be secured. The fact is, securing your WiFi network just makes you look like an imbecile. What, do you still pay by-the-kilobyte? Nobody does that anymore. Everyone now has an unlimited data policy, as far as Internet is concerned. And what files do you need protected? If you want to protect a file, just dont put it in shared folders. Its that simple. You probably say "but what about hackers? A good hacker can get to my files that aren't shared!"
Well, yeah. Duh. And nearly any hacker can get into a secured WiFi network too. So by having any sorts of laws about WiFi access, or having a secured network, or any other sort of closed door on WiFi access, you only hurt the law-abiding citizens. You won't stop a hacker for a second.

I agree with the previous comment. WiFi does need to be open, but has to ensure the safety of it's other users. These cafe's merely serve as a portal to the internet.

Aside from this, do you really think this encouraged further business from their customers with this kind of law? The punishment is absolutely outrageous. Out of principle I would have stopped going there. Obviously, there is room for improvement in this area of law.

Internetacces should be free for everybody. And the fine is way too high. But that America, thank Darwin I live in Holland!

There are 2 issues that need addressing.

Many internet providers have it listed in thier agreement when you sign up, that you are not allowed to share your internet access. So technically an open wifi router would be against your agreement.

As far as MAC addresses go, there are many easy ways to change a MAC address on a computer or wireless card. This is by no means a bullet proof way of tracking down who used your wireless internet.

I am not against free internet, but it needs to be monitored and controlled. I am sure you would not want to have to deal with authorities if someone decided to use your open internet access for illegal activities.

Just another day.