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02/26/2007

Gamer Busted for Using Library Wi-Fi

Yes, 21-year old Brian Tanner had his laptop confiscated by police after he was caught in the parking lot of a library, "illegally" using their Wi-Fi connection to play WoW.
..he now faces possible criminal charges for illegally accessing WiFi at the Palmer, Alaska library after hours. While the library could thwart such wardrivers by simply disabling the dang signal at closing, they continue to enforce some usage rules that Mr. Tanner may or may not have been aware of
[via Engadget]

This entry was posted on 02/26/2007 05:12am and is filed under Video Games, Weird .
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There are 12 comments about this post (1 pages).

1
Posted at 02/26/2007 06:55am by baron
A public library's wifi? That's insane. Having said that, he must be living out of the car to be desperate for access to that though.
2
Posted at 02/26/2007 09:08am by Chris
I would say that this is the library's fault, They should shut the Wi-Fi off after hours if they don't want people using it. I do... I can't see why theres a criminal case here...
3
Posted at 02/26/2007 11:54am by Down'n out
haha my friend sits outside my buddys house to use his wifi (hides in his garden). He doent even knock, he just msns when he wants 2 come in.
4
Posted at 02/26/2007 1:06pm by cg
Granted, yes, the library should definitely disable the wireless when its not in use. They obviously didn't understand how easy it is for people outside the library to hop on at any hour of the day. However, people shouldn't wardrive either.
5
Posted at 02/26/2007 1:37pm by Kodo
No..NOOoOoOo!!! OMGZ! That was an Epic drop! Damn you copper!!!
6
Posted at 02/26/2007 1:43pm by Mobilesuitmart
The only reason to keep wifi after hours is so administrators can use Remote Access (at least that is my internet cafe's excuse). Why doesn't the library activate the WEP at the end of the day?
7
Posted at 02/26/2007 2:19pm by George C.
That´s silly!, If you are going to do that do it somewhere else, like Down´s out´s friend. Funny post!
8
Posted at 02/26/2007 2:41pm by wolf
I don't get what the library's problem is in all of this- if the connection isn't secured and is available it is there own fault for leaving it open- it is not like he was hacking the library's system or stealing e-mail or information, they should know that pretty much every laptop nowadays has a wifi card and if you open it up and search for a network you can just ride it. I do it all of the time, when you search for networks @ my house about 50 of them come up, usually about 5 or 6 with no wep, that's why at home I do everything wired so no one snorts me and uses my bandwidth.
9
Posted at 02/27/2007 11:09am by Starked SF, Unforgiving News from the Bay » Blog Archive » Linker Barn: February 27
[...] Gamer busted for using library WiFi. [...]
10
Posted at 02/27/2007 6:04pm by luckyedboy66
attention: will the person who lost their stick please dislodge it from the libraries ass... seriously, thats retarded
11
Posted at 02/27/2007 9:38pm by Oldbrass
I have no problem with the concept of wardriving...IF you keep your own network open. If yours is open to others that I feel that you are equally entitled to the use of other open access. The end.
12
Posted at 03/01/2007 5:04pm by Yeahno
Yeah, this isnt a crime. If the library didnt want people to use its internet connection, they'd simply turn it off or activate any of numerous security measures. If it doesnt want to do that, screw it.
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