Man uses free, public Wi-Fi; police seize his laptop

By Preston Gralla on Fri, 03/02/2007 - 2:01pm

Next time you visit Alaska, leave your laptop behind. An Alaskan man has had his laptop seized by the police for --- horror of horrors! --- using a free Wi-Fi network at his local library.

The AP reports that 21-year-old Brian Tanner was sitting outside the Palmer public library after hours, using its free Wi-Fi network, when a policeman confiscated his laptop.

What's the crime? That's not at all clear. Apparently, the policeman had told Tanner previously not to use the W-Fi network, although exactly what crime Tanner was committing by using a free, public network at a library is not at all obvious. Click here for more.