14 DAY TRIAL // The definition of computers as specified in Dutch computer intrusion legislation has led to the acquittal of a defendant charged with breaking into a protected WiFi network.
The controversial verdict [Google translation] was handed down earlier this month by a Hague court in the case of a Maerlant College graduate who announced his intention to shoot people at his former school online.
The announcement was posted, allegedly as a joke, on the notorious website 4chan.org, a regular source for pranks and questionable Internet humor.
However, because it came two days after a school shooting in Germany, the threat was taken very seriously by some members of the image board who notified the college.
In addition to the criminal offense related to the threat itself, the student was also charged with computer intrusion because he made the announcement from a wireless network he hacked into.
The judge ordered the defendant to 120 hours of community service for making threats against human life, but acquitted him on the computer intrusion charges.
The court's reasoning for the acquittal was that routers are not computers under Dutch law, which defines computers as devices capable of cumulatively storing, processing and transmitting data.
It was the court's opinion that routers are not covered by this definition because they are not used for data processing.
In addition, because the defendant obtained access only to the wireless network and not an actual computer, the judge ruled that this behavior cannot constitute computer intrusion.
The court noted that while piggybacking on another person's paid wireless connection, even if password-protected, is an undesirable social conduct, it is not a criminal offence.
In most countries hacking into wireless networks or using unsecured ones without explicit permission from their owners is punishable by fines, jail time or both.
The Dutch computer intrusion law dates from the early '90s when the standards on which today's wireless LANs are based were still being developed.