Have you notice how many people have wireless Internet connections? They’re everywhere. Have you also noticed how many of these connections are open? If I wanted to, I could easily tap into 3 high-speed connection, with generous signal strengths, in our neighborhood and power our broadband addiction. What’s more, this connection only costs the price of a wireless adapter (for my desktop computer). The price to get started, and perhaps save some money, is very tempting in this economy.

Being a novice internet security expert, there are some potential downsides to this approach. For starters, open connections are very vulnerable to be outside attacks, and thus so is your computer (and your sensitive information). A number of firewalls and other devices can help prevent this. Talk to your 14 year-old or local "techie" about these risks. You can also check out this article about "wardriving."

Second, this may be considered a computer crime. Technology often (always?) outpaces laws. Oklahoma has instituted the "Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act" (21 O.S. §, 1951 et. seq.). Section 1953(A)(5) seems to intimate that the offense of using computer services (i.e. computer time, data processing and storage functions and other uses of a computer, computer system or computer network to perform useful work) constitutes a misdemeanor violation (a $5,000 penalty and 30 days in jail) of the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act (see here and here).

So, what about accessing wireless networks at businesses like Starbucks, McDonalds, or Barnes & Noble? Well, Section 1954 limits one’s violation to incidents that are not authorized, or exceed one’s authorization. This obviously means that if you try to access the computer resources of the business (the business’ actual accounting, sales, files, etc.) you’ve violated the Act. Merely surfing or using their wireless access point does not.

Is this the case with neighboorhood wireless connections? Arguably, these open connections are similar to mislaid property, meaning that the property is free to the finder. However, because of their readily identifiable locations, this becomes trespass to chattles (or property), meaning these connections are not mislaid. Moreover, you the neighbor, have not received any type authorization to use this access. Therefore, you’ve immediately violated the "savings clause" in Section 1954.

What can you do? How about talking to your neighbors about splitting the costs of the Internet access. Usually at $30 to $60 a month, you can save yourself some monthly expenses by halving your own personal cost for the same Internet speed. Sure, you may have some initial cost in the setup (wireless adapters, boosters, etc.), but over time, these costs will return in your reduced costs. What’s more, this can be a way to save some energy and the environment. I don’t know what the power draw on a wireless router is, but decreasing the number of them being used is certain to have a small impact.