News: Man held over wireless broadband "theft"

[#1]

Just head for a macdonalds it's all free there now.
I used a wireless connection alot however i drew the conclusion that it must belong to the local pub which is about 50 meters down the road - as it went on about 11am and off about 11pm.
::edit::: it is the local pub which is also now a hotel, they give free wireless to the rooms i've asked the landlord and he says i can use it if i want to - nice one!
Homeplugs are the way to go - easier than wireless and cannot be stolen like this.
i'll never use wireless again while i have electricity sockets in my house.
These people only get nabbed as they are sat in cars, i wonder if someone who was sat in a car on their mobile would be done - or even worse sat in their house - how can you tell where someone is?

[#2]

Can anyone from plusnet give me a answer to wether FON is allowed to be used on our connections?

[#3]

Not quite the official answer from PlusNet themselves. But it will bump your question.
I see no reason why PlusNet would be unhappy for you yo use FON.
Just remember that any usage by any Foneros would count to your usage limits, and be chargeable.
Chilly

[#4]

Sorry, meant to reply to this on Friday.
I've been trawling through the terms and conditions and can see no reason why you cannot do this legally, but please bear in mind that if your wireless connect is used for illegal activity, then you would be responsible in a court of law.

[#5]

My anti-virus (panda internet security 2008) tells me if any unauthorised user is trying to access my wireless connection
even though it states internet security it protects all of my computer firewall virus scan spam and junk folders and a deep on-line live scan you are allowed to use it on 3 computers at no extra cost.  Amazon is the best place(cheaper than panda direct ).  I get 24hour 7 days a week tech support and it updates everyday or more is their a new virus.
puddy

[#6]

Shame that my new modem (Netgear) isn't compatible with fon...
I think BT's is a great initiative. I feel bad about having to make my network secure, but at the moment I really don't seem to have any other choice.
Or is there another way (I'm the opposite of technogeek and only have a very basic short-range setup)?

[#7]

Quote from: Jameseh

... bear in mind that if your wireless connect is used for illegal activity, then you would be responsible in a court of law.

Can you give chapter and verse for the legal liability, please? Will your answer also apply to the running of a Tor exit node?

[#8]

read this  http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060911-7709.html

[#9]

Yes, I was aware of that incident. It happens to be in Germany, and just for the moment, our national government in Brussels hasn't quite got the law to be the same in all its provinces.
You may also be aware of the dawn raid by German police on the residence of a man who was running a Tor exit node on a server in a server farm some 40 km away. They successfully "persuaded" him not to run it any more.
So in the meantime, I would welcome the official information from PlusNet about the state of the law in the UK, as it applies to PlusNet customers.

[#10]

Quote from: puddy

My anti-virus (panda internet security 2008) tells me if any unauthorised user is trying to access my wireless connection

It might stop/detect somebody trying to access your computer via the wireless connection, however it won't (can't) stop or detect somebody accessing a wireless router though.
A program such as this would only be useful if you used one router to connect to the internet, and a second wireless access point which directed all traffic through your computer.
A standard configuration such as most people have won't support their computer seeing what is going through their router in real time easily.

[#11]

Hi Fred,
I'm no lawyer I'm afraid and as such would not be qualified to offer you legal advice.  That's not the job of an ISP
I'd suggest reading up on the internet or if you have any legal friends, to ask them for advice.

[#12]

Surely you could advise him that he's in a contract with you - the terms and conditions of which forbid any illegal use of the connection.
Whether the plod would be after somebody using their connection illegally or not is a harder question to answer, but since its forbidden anyway, the question doesn't really need to be answered.