Man in Michigan Charged with Stealing WiFi Signal

A Sparta, Washington man by the name of Sam Peterson II has been arrested and charged with stealing the WiFi connection of a nearby coffee shop. A police investigation turned up connections from the coffee shop’s WiFi to his computer.

The maximum penalty for this charge is a $10,000 fine or 5 years in jail. Since Mr. Peterson has no criminal history he’ll be paying $400 and performing 40 hours of community service.

Here’s what the law has to say

752.795 Prohibited conduct.

Sec. 5.

A person shall not intentionally and without authorization or by exceeding valid authorization do any of the following:

(a) Access or cause access to be made to a computer program, computer, computer system, or computer network to acquire, alter, damage, delete, or destroy property or otherwise use the service of a computer program, computer, computer system, or computer network.

(b) Insert or attach or knowingly create the opportunity for an unknowing and unwanted insertion or attachment of a set of instructions or a computer program into a computer program, computer, computer system, or computer network, that is intended to acquire, alter, damage, delete, disrupt, or destroy property or otherwise use the services of a computer program, computer, computer system, or computer network. This subdivision does not prohibit conduct protected under section 5 of article I of the state constitution of 1963 or under the first amendment of the constitution of the United States.