Unsecured wifi might be contributory negligence

Ian Johnson Ian.Johnson at uwe.ac.uk
Thu Feb 23 08:53:46 GMT 2012


>On Behalf Of  Roland Perry
> Sent: 22 February 2012 18:45
>
> Traditionally you run the risk of getting blocked if your network is
> hijacked by a spammer.

Wireless users can't contact my MTA, and would need to login to my
ISP's.  No issues.
>
>  >I can't see how I have any liability under UK law for what others do
>  >using my connection,
>
> Currently, probably not a lot if "it's a civil matter sir",
> but I don't
> see why a clever lawyer couldn't arrange something if it was
> consciously
> aiding and abetting a criminal offence. It's the unconscious
> stuff where
> the Americans are flying a kite on contributory negligence.

I would have thought that any aiding & abetting would require
mens rea and a specific act.

> If the infringers had to log into your network, they'd be easier to
> identify. But as I've said countless times, this isn't just about
> intellectual property theft.

That's assuming I was legally compelled to surrender the logs. I
cannot see any reason why I should care who is using my network
unless it affects my contractual relationship with my ISP.

Ian 



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