According to a recent Dutch court ruling, breaking into and encrypted WiFi network is not considered to be a criminal offence. The court's decision also mentioned that piggybacking onto wireless networks at bars or hotels can not be prosecuted. In many countries around the world such actions are considered as criminal acts and are taken very seriously.
"The ruling is linked to a case of a student who threatened to shoot down everyone at the Maerlant College in The Hague, a high school. He posted a threat on the internet message board using a WiFi connection that he broke into. The student was convicted for posting the message and sentenced to 20 hours of community service, but he was acquitted of the WiFi hacking charges." The court's decision is based on the mandated definition of what is a computer. A computer is defined as a machine that deals with: the storage, processing and transmission of data. According to this same definition, a router (a piece of equipment that is responsible for encrypting and connecting computers to the internet) is not considered to be a computer and thus can be freely hacked or exploited.
via: PCWorld
