Illinois Man Fined For Piggybacking On Wi-Fi Service

[news=http://img313.imageshack.us/img313/1682/computersecure6rw.gif]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.

:source: Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20060325/tc_cmp/183702832[/news]

Maybe he thought it was a public network being that it was unencrypted. XP automatically connects to the first wireless network it finds anyway.

blame it on porn

serves him right, dumb ass greedy f***er

IM in ze illinois

what a fool.

Anyone with a wireless network and internet connection that doesn't encrypt and use mac address filtering is a doufus and deserves to be piggybacked!! In my neighborhood there are at least 5 WiFi conections available that are not locked down. Fortunately for them, I have enough integrity not to use them.

i can't believe how many of my friends use their neighbor's wifi connections. living in nice apartments, its almost a guarantee. i dont think i would ever do it though. i'd gobble up their speed and they'd figure it out eventually.

I don't think its fair that the County will get the money from the fine he gets. The County should get enough to cover the court costs and the person he was leeching off of should get the rest to pay his internet bills for a while.