Vague Wi-Fi laws lead to legal risk for mobile surfers

 

Gallery

By Stewart Mitchell

Posted on 17 Aug 2009 at 11:56

Vague regulations outlawing unauthorised access to private Wi-Fi networks are hampering the spread of broadband access and putting innocent mobile internet users at risk of prosecution, according to an academic at the University of East Anglia.

Daithí Mac Síthigh, an IT and internet law expert at the university, believes that because devices such as the iPhone connect to any available network, countless users could be piggybacking onto networks without authorisation.

“Many people may be technically breaking the law and would not agree that using an open network should be a criminal offence,” he says. “Although it's unlikely widespread prosecutions will take place, it may have consequences further down the line and could be used against you.

“Plenty of people have been convicted for using open access points - even though it’s not normally policed. It’s usually only when people see someone acting suspiciously outside a closed café or a neighbour complains. Potentially anyone walking down the road with an iPhone could be breaking the law.”

Although the lecturer admits most courts would not convict anyone because the access would need to be intentional to be criminal, he says the vagueness could lead to a “very abstract test of dishonesty in courts”.

Plenty of people have been convicted for using open access points - even though it’s not normally policed

In the study, Law in the Last Mile: Sharing Internet Access Through WiFi, Mac Síthigh also claims that the wooliness of Wi-Fi sharing legislation is also restricting digital access, contrary to the values laid out in the government’s Digital Britain pdf report.

"Digital inclusion is a government policy and rightly so,” says Mac Sithigh. "Shared internet access has potential social benefits, but it's harder to encourage people to take part if the legalities are unclear. If the legal environment was more favourable to sharing it would play an important part in achieving the Digital Britain aim of inclusion and social goals of increased access."

In reviewing court case notes, Mac Síthigh established that convictions and arrests have been made under section 125 of the Communications Act 2003, and the Computer Misuse Act 1990, which were designed for more serious acts like computer hacking and major defrauding of communications companies.