WiFi - Florida Residents Arrested for "Stealing" WiFi from Unprotected Network

A Florida court has fined two residents $874 for logging into an unprotected residential wireless network. The criminal prosecution was brought on the basis of a Florida statute that prohibits unauthorized access to a computer or network. While its hard to imagine that this crime is going to become a high priority enforcement target for local law enforcement officials, it illustrates two things. First that the idea that someone has stolen something has great power in the U.S. legal system, even if the concept of theft isn't as clearly defined in the on-line world. Second, that laws exist, even if they are not directly on point, for individuals and entities operating on-line to enforce what they perceive to be their ownership rights. Computerworld Article