Legal Question in Technology Law in New Jersey
Free Internet?
A friend of mine brought this to my attention: he recently purchased a laptop which was WiFi capable, and in the process of finding a wireless router, discovered he was on the fringe of three seperate networks not his own. Since that was the case, he forwent buying the router or a service provider and has been using the other networks to connect. Is this method of connection illegal and should I tell him such?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Free Internet?
There is nothing illegal about WiFi in the abstract, but there are some illegal ways to use it -- like making unauthorized use of someone else's network connections or snooping into a hard drive that does not belong to you.
A number of organizations deliberately make their connections available to the public. Some do this in specific places (called "Hot Spots") while others provide the service over a wider area. If the connections your friend stumbled upon are public, then he can use them. Telling whether a given connection is public or private should not be difficult.
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