Wednesday
May122010
German Court: Internet Passwords are a Must
Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 11:07AM
German law now mandates that Internet users must secure their private wireless connections with a password to prevent unauthorized people from hacking into their connection to illegally download data.
Users who don't set up a password can be fined up to 100 euros ($126) if someone uses their connection to illegally download music or other files.
"Private users are obligated to check whether their wireless connection is adequately secured to the danger of unauthorized third parties abusing it to commit copyright violation," the court said.
However, users are not expected to update and change their passwords, only to create one.
The ruling came after a musician sued an Internet user whose wireless connection was used to illegally download a song, which was subsequently offered on an online file sharing network.
Even though the user could prove he was on vacation at the time, the court ruled he was responsible for failing to protect his Internet connection in the first place.
Users who don't set up a password can be fined up to 100 euros ($126) if someone uses their connection to illegally download music or other files.
"Private users are obligated to check whether their wireless connection is adequately secured to the danger of unauthorized third parties abusing it to commit copyright violation," the court said.
However, users are not expected to update and change their passwords, only to create one.
The ruling came after a musician sued an Internet user whose wireless connection was used to illegally download a song, which was subsequently offered on an online file sharing network.
Even though the user could prove he was on vacation at the time, the court ruled he was responsible for failing to protect his Internet connection in the first place.
Reader Comments (1)
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