As wireless routers become more and more commonplace across the UK there are concerns that many people are not securing their links allowing others in the vicinity to “piggyback” their Internet connection. As a number of people have found in the past, if strangers are able to connect to the Internet via your wireless route and they engage in illegal activity then you will be the one who is potentially liable!
We have seen instances where elderly couples, who rarely use the Internet, have seen their wireless router connections hijacked by strangers who have downloaded copyrighted material. The only reference which the Internet service providers have is your IP address and your wireless route which leads the trail back to the underlying customer. It is then up to the customer to prove beyond reasonable doubt that they could not have downloaded the material in question and hence they are not liable for any damages.
This is a warning to everybody in the UK who has an unsecured wireless router connection because ultimately it only takes one illegal download and you could potentially be in trouble with the law – a situation which you could find very expensive!