Illinois leads the way in defining the next wireless frontier. What better place to lead the charge than the city of Winnebago, namesake of the famous RV? As future cases of WiFi freeloading come up, there are going to be a host of questions to be answered in the courts. An  op-ed in the NYT argued that leaving a WiFi network  open is a public service and available to all nearby. Others argue that it is no more legal than going into a person home who leaves his door open and watching TV. Who knows where this will land, but if you own an access point, it is clearly in your best interest to password protect it and take other precautions to avoid this issue altogether.

Illinois Man Fined For Piggybacking On Wi-Fi Service

In Illinois, riding piggyback on someone else’s Wi-Fi could cost you some money.

David
M. Kauchak, 32, pleaded guilty this week in Winnebago County to
remotely accessing someone else’s computer system without permission,
the Rockford Register Star newspaper reported. A Winnebago County judge fined Kauchak $250 and sentenced him to one year of court supervision.

Kauchak has the dubious distinction of being the first person to
face the charge in Winnebago County, and prosecutors say they’re taking
the crime seriously.

"We just want to get the word out that it is a crime. We are
prosecuting it, and people need to take precautions," Assistant State’s
Attorney Tom Wartowski told the newspaper.

A police officer arrested Kauchak in January after spotting him
sitting in a parked car with a computer. A chat with the suspect led to the arrest, Wartowski said.