Ars Technica notes Florida man charged with felony for wardriving. “Be careful accessing those unprotected WAPs, especially if you live in Florida. A man was recently arrested for accessing an open access point in an apartment complex.” By eric@arstechnica.com (Eric Bangeman).
So, receiving radio waves that someone else broadcasts is illegal? No. Responding to them? No. Using a device designed for connection that’s not encrypted? No. This isn’t the same as barging onto your neighbor’s property and plugging your appliance into his electrical socket. If the interceptor was attempting to break into a computer or perform some illegal act, well, maybe. It’s hard to even see this as a theft of services when they are being broadcast and the supplier isn’t paying any more for its use by others.
It will be interesting to see if this case goes anywhere…