Another Wifi Felon Arrested
In Michigan, police have arrested a man for sitting out in his car, using a cafe's wifi. The charge is a felony, carrying a maximum five year sentence and $10,000 fine.
Wood TV reports:
It's a lunch hour ritual at the Re-Union Street Caf. Customers regularly log onto the internet using the cafe's wireless network to check their e-mail and surf the web while they enjoy the coffee and ambience. Sam Peterson II did the same thing. "I knew that the Union Street had WiFi," he said. "I just went down and checked my e-mail and didn't see a problem with that." But Peterson did it everyday, and from his car. He drove up, parked, and piggybacked onto the Union Street network.
Piggybacking – using someone else's WiFi without their permission – isn't legal. Sparta Police Chief Andrew Milanowski was suspicious of what Peterson was doing in his car every day and talked with him. A warrant was sworn for Peterson's arrest on a "five year felony, $10,000 fine," he said. "I would have never guessed."
24 Hour News 8 investigated the number of prosecutions – and found only a handful of WiFi freeloaders prosecuted worldwide. The only way to catch a piggybacker is to catch someone, like Peterson, in the act "because 90 percent of the time we wouldn't know, frankly, that it's going on," Hopkins said. He'll pay a $400 fine and do 40 hours of community service, but it will not go on his record.
