A man and a woman have been arrested and cautioned in Redditch for using other people's Wi-Fi broadband internet connections without permission.
Disgruntled neighbours of the couple contacted police at the weekend after seeing a man inside a car using a laptop while parked outside a house. He had put up cardboard around his car windows but the light from his computer could be seen through the back window.
The man, who hasn't been named, was immediately arrested and cautioned for dishonestly obtaining electronic communications services with intent to avoid payment.
A woman was arrested in similar circumstances in the town earlier this month.
This is one of the first cases of its kind. Stealing bandwidth is illegal not only because of the affect it could have on the legitimate user's web-browsing experience, but because it is almost impossible to trace someone who is using the internet in this way. It would be possible for paedophiles or internet thieves to mask their identities when stealing Wi-Fi internet like this.
Comments
LogicBoy said: Eh So should leaving your door unlocked be a crime People can always choose not to steal
Jared said: If using an unprotected Wi-Fi connection is illegal then it should stand to reason that providing unprotected Wi-Fi should also be illegal