A man using his laptop in the street has been arrested on suspicion of illegally logging on to a wireless (Wi-Fi) broadband connection.
Proud Plod arranged for the SWAT team, the army, navy and air force, the TA and Junior Dibble (age 11-14 year old section) to arrest the man for daring to use the internet via a neighbour's unsecured line.
A spokesperson was heard to crow "that'll learn the bastard; it's not all about arresting kids with guns you know."
The crime of “hitching” or “piggy-backing” on to someone else's wireless broadband connection is illegal as it breaches the Computer Misuse Act and the Communications Act 2003.
The first conviction for such an offence was in 2005 and the guilty culprit was fined £500 and given a 12-month conditional discharge and had his computer and wireless card confiscated.
Personally, if someone is stupid enough to not secure their connection stream they deserve all they get, but once again our English coppers are targeting the terrorists where it hurts; the man on the street...
well, sure, setting WPA encryption is easy and very hard to breach, so why does someone picking a random unsecured network should be punished? nonsense.
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