Piggyback hunting-browsing the internet in Australia via unsecured wireless networks : virtual theft or acceptable behaviour in an online world?

In a world that is increasingly dominated by the Internet, there is a growing demand for low cost access at the users convenience. The expansion of wireless Internet networks, in particular unsecured wireless Internet networks, gives rise to novel challenges for the regulation of Internet access. The ability to access unsecured wireless Internet networks with ease and with very little impact upon the owner of the network suggests that such 'piggybacking' may be criminal behaviour or may amount to an actionable civil wrong. This paper will explore the legal ramifications of piggybacking an unsecured wireless network with knowledge that there is no entitlement to the use of the network and will consider what Australian authorities should do about this situation. This paper will look at the position in Australia and juxtapose this with that of the United Kingdom and the United States of America. In both the United Kingdom and the United States of America prosecutions have taken place of individuals who knowingly accessed unsecured wireless
networks for their own personal use.