So the other afternoon I sat down with the newspaper to catch up on all the happenings of the day (and of Princes William and Harry and to see which rehab Amy Winehouse recently left) when an article caught my eye. It was about the arrest of London man, living not too far from my own neighborhood. It seems that he was caught leaning against a garden wall with a . . . . . . . .laptop. At first I was confused, is the crime rate so low in Chiswick (no I am not making that name up) that the police routinely harass citizens enjoying the afternoon sun? What was the problem? Was it an old laptop? Was he using it to watch reruns of Hell's Kitchen? Did he not have MS Word factory installed? Why, you wonder, did the British police detain this fellow? Well I will tell you. He was using the laptop outside of someone else's house and connecting to the internet through the occupant's unsecured wireless network. Wow! I had no idea that was illegal. Sure, you have to assume that it isn't right but illegal? Before you ask, there is no allegation that he was using the connection for any nefarious activity, such as going through files on the home owner's computer or stealing any personal information. Just the act of hijacking the signal is illegal in Britain, no matter what the purpose. The man is being charged under the Computer Misuse Act and was given a UK500 fine and probation for 12 months. His computer and wireless card were confiscated. It was unclear how long he is without a computer. Under this Act in Britain, certain offenses could be punished by a five year jail term and a fine without limit.
So remember when we first moved here and we had some difficulty getting our internet connection for quite a few weeks?
I am going to have a hard time getting out of this country without serving jail time for something, I just know it.
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