On friday, Dec. 2nd i got arrested in Painesville, OH in a similar situation. I was parked outside my closed laundromat, using a wi-fi signal [which i have used before] that i assumed was a service provided by the business, since it was completely unsecured and labeled as the default name linksys. Even after showing the officer my site history, which showed i had only simply sent a business related email to my father and replied to a few messages on myspace.com. The police claimed that they had somehow found the owner of the signal, which turned out to be the small used car dealership next door, within less than half an hour, at 3 a.m. no less. [i work night shift so i was out late] And even while i was being arrested they completely ignored by multipul questioning of who they had called, but would gladly answer all my other questions. They first charged me with misdemeanor "theft of internet access". Then the next day as i was getting bailed out it was changed to felony "unauthorized use of private property". The owner of the car dealership has yet to show any sign of complaint to my using their signal other than their [supposed] call. I have yet to come across a case similar to this. If anyone has any helpful information reguarding this i would be very appresiative.

And to all the people who are trying to use analogies to rationalize these situations....There IS nothing like wi-fi. Its not anything like any real world actions, since there is no cost of use to the owner if used in a non-malicious situation. Anyone whose ever used wi-fi can agree that many times you don't even know where the signal is originating from. So any analogies involving people's houses, business, or property are fundamentally flawed.

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