The bill's purpose is to prohibit anyone from accessing a wireless access point "intentionally, willfully, and without authorization." It appears to ban both everyday WiFi leeching and using an open access point for more nefarious activities. And if you live in a Maryland neighborhood with broadband usage caps, it would be illegal to deliberately cause someone to overuse their bandwidth allotment. Violators would be subject to fines of up to $1,000 and three years in jail, unless they tried to hack into a password-protected system or used their unauthorized access for mischief. Then the penalties could climb to $10,000 and 10 years in prison.
Bill criminalizing WiFi leeching shot down
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