legalized war-driving
Posted on April 29, 2003
Filed Under Misc.
It’s nice to know that had I been living in New Hampshire the past 3 months, there’s a law in consideration that would make “stumbling” on to an open wi-fi network legal. Or more accurately, it would make it the owner’s responsibility to secure their own network so the loafer wouldn’t be breaking any laws.
…HB 495…defines an operator’s failure to secure a wireless network as a form of negligence. According to the proposed amendment, “the owner of a wireless computer network shall be responsible for securing such computer network.”
What’s more, if an alleged intruder can prove he gained access to an insecure wireless network believing it was intended to be open, the defendant may be able to get off the hook using an “affirmative defense” provision of the existing law.
Just because someone leaves their door open, it does not give me the right to walk in. However, that “rule” can be negotiable. When I was in college (the first one) an open door room door meant “Come on it, I’m accepting visitors.” Innocent war-driving, like I did when we were out of the house, is the same thing. I never attempted to connect to any other computer or catch a data stream. I just wanted the pipe to the Internet.
And as I take “pay it forward” as a personal motto, I have removed the WEP from my own network. I’ve taken steps to protect the data on my computers, but if someone is in need of a good surf and they want to hang out in my driveway and check their email they are welcome to it. 
