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Think Free Wi-Fi Is Simple? You Could Be Sued For Negligence

Written by Frank Hayes
February 9th, 2012
Are you legally liable for what customers do over your store's free Wi-Fi? A Massachusetts lawsuit is backing into that question with a novel legal theory: If illegal activity uses someone else's unsecured Wi-Fi, then the Wi-Fi owner can be sued for negligence for allowing it to happen.

To be clear, the Massachusetts plaintiff is not going after any retailers—in fact, the plaintiff's lawyer says he'd hate to try winning a case like that against a retailer. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean some other lawyer won't chase the same theory, with results that could put a chain in court.

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Posted in In-Store, IT Strategy/Industry, Mobile/Wireless/Contactless, Premium Content, Security/Fraud
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