Funny story about computer confiscation in Denmark

Police in Denmark confiscated the computer belonging to the guy who does the Rottin' in Denmark blog. They accused him of using a stolen credit card to buy stuff online. The blogger explained that he has an open WiFi access point, and that anyone can use it. It took them a long time to figure that out, but they took his computer (and his room mate's computer) anyway.

Rottin's account of the police visit is funny. But it also makes me wonder if I should close my open WiFi network. I don't want cops taking away my computer.

We moved into my roommate's room.
She has an original iMac.
'We have your roommate's permission to confiscate her computer,' the Ichabod Crane one said.
'Whatever,' I said. They had already assured me that we would get our laptops back that afternoon, so I figured the damage had already been done. Ichabod started rooting around under her desk.
'Where's the computer?' he said.
'On the desk. That's the computer,' I said.
'No, the computer.'
'That's the computer, dude.'
'That's the screen.' He had lapsed into the voice you use when you explain to your 6-year-old cousin how the toaster works. 'I mean the compuuuuuter. Understand?'
'Dude. That's the whole computer. Right there. The blue object the size of an armadillo.'
'No. Where the daaaaata goes. The computer part.'
'That is the computer. For Hell!' Danish swear words aren't as satisfying.
'So that's the entire computer, right there?'
I was standing there with a look on my face like I was watching a dog walk on its hind legs.
'New technology, huh?' he said.
I blew the dust off the keyboard and handed it to him. 'Do you mind if I check your badge again?'

Link

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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BLAST 420

I wonder what they’d think of my intel iMac.
seanpatgallagher

If it makes you feel any better, Bruce Schneier keeps an open WiFi access point. He’s not too worried about it.
-Sean
se7a7n7

HAHA, “‘New technology, huh?’ he said.”

Yes, it was new technology like 10 years ago Grandpa.
Xodarap

I’ve always been a fan of the occurrences wherein the other person is clearly wrong, and yet *they* stoop to the condescending, patronizing voice antics. It makes a smirk and a pointing finger all that much more rewarding. Like a warm, fuzzy, “you did this to yourself” feeling in the tummy.

That said, the same smirk-and-point *would* get you beaten in the States. I really have been beaten by a cop for asking smarmily for a badge number. Well, it was a baton to the elbow, but it hurt like hell!
Hunty

@#4: Cool. I guess I’ll swing by Bruce Schneier’s house if I ever steal a credit card and want to order some crap online. :)
Rich Gibson

I have spent more time laughing at people who think that a CRT is a computer than laughing at people who don’t realize that an iMac has the computer built into the CRT case…

Access points should be open. It should be legally mandated: if you want to use the public airwaves you need to run an open AP.

The only real downside is total traffic leaching, but that is rare even now on open networks, and can be handled by the router if it does occur.
Takuan

What’s the tipping point where an openly offered resource (unsecured wifi) becomes an “attractive nusiance”? Does someone who always leaves his car keys in his ignition in the big city deserve a fine?
Is leaving emergency food in your unlocked, remote cabin (where someone lost might find it) the same as storing your fish outside next to a daycare in bear country?

I haven’t lived in Denmark,but it seems a society benign enough to have such cops as those described probably deserves cooperation from its citizens to the point of putting the lid on the cookie jar.
dculberson

It’s a classic communication barrier issue – half the problem stems from the wording of his responses. He didn’t acknowledge that yes, typically there is a separate component that is the computer but that in this case it’s inside the monitor. For example, saying “Oh, it’s an all-in-one where everything is in a single unit,” would’ve cleared things up really quickly. It has the bonus of avoiding a Taser hit here in the US.
justanotherusername

If that were me the story would have gone differently.

‘Where’s the computer?’
‘On the desk. That’s the computer,’
‘No, the computer.’
…
‘Oh, it’s over there in that box.’
‘Why is it in a box?’
‘I heard you were coming so I packed it already, here, let me carry it for you.’
glugenwog

Maybe you should talk to Cory/Bruce like someone said, Mark: http://www.boingboing.net/2008/01/10/why-its-good-to-leav.html
bardfinn

Yes, officer: My computer is that ten-year-old Compaq Deskpro with Ubuntu installed. Not the MacMini in the cubbyhole of my desk.
Takuan

@10
just trying to revive that thread
bour3

Th stry tllr s th dt hr, nt th cp. t ny pnt r hplss hr cld hv clrfd n hs plshd bst Dnsh, “Th cp s blt tgthr wth th mntr n ths mdl.” Bt n. t ws mch mr fn mnpltng th sttn t xtnd cnfsn by rptng th sm stpd sttmnt tht gt nwhr th frst tm nd by wthhldng wht h knw wld b sfl. Blh. Rttn sn’t t ll rnclly nmd, h’s jrk. nd s s nybdy wh fnds Rttn’s ccnt f th cp’s vst fnny. t sn’t.
glugenwog

@12

‘Twas my father’s thread, and before that his father’s.
Antinous

Cop-baiting takes a certain sangfroid, but the results are often hilarious. If you’re going to send a cop to confiscate a computer, maybe you should send one who’s familiar with them.
funeralpudding

When, then I may be a jerk, Bour3, but you are simply a police-state stooge.
Takuan

aye, an we cannae let it perish!
consideredopinion

Remember, meatspace visual processing relies on packaging, and little else. That why those tasteless tomatoes are oh-so-red-delicious! ;-)
Agent 86

@bour3

Are you reading the same article everyone else is? The cop didn’t understand that emails are stored/accessed online, not on a specific computer. Even my 70 yr old senile, mildly Alzheimer’s grandma can comprehend that.

Mind you, this is the cop they send by to investigate computer fraud. That would make you think he is the cream of the IT crop.
henriquem

man, this seems like a scene from the movie Zoolander (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0196229/), when Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson try to find “data” on a computer (and it’s an iMac!).
Moon

“How did you get this job?” would have been another question I might have asked if I wanted to get my butt kicked!

:D
J450N

my WiFi is always open, and you’re all welcome to use it.

If you’re really too geezer you can always go with the http://www.FON.com
Antinous

What’s the tipping point where an openly offered resource (unsecured wifi) becomes an “attractive nuisance”?

I put a copyright tag on my content not because I care if anybody uses it (or think that anyone would want to). I just don’t want to be sued for using my own content. No good deed goes unpunished. It’s a bit depressing, really.
George Curious

Yes, that’s straight outa Zoolander! Owen Wilson is baffled when he’s told “the files are IN the computer”. Then they start beating on it trying to open it.

Keep in mind both he and Ben Stiller are playing VERY stupid characters in that movie.
David

Rottin’s account of the police visit is funny. But it also makes me wonder if I should close my open WiFi network. I don’t want cops taking away my computer.

Well, d’uh. :-)
CVR

At Slashdot yesterday, there was a discussion about ISPs (Time Warner in particular) moving toward Per-Gygabyte pricing, and how this might affect kind souls who leave their wifi networks open.

http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/05/1322213
neo2049

It is so good to hear that the police are keeping up with the times and staying educated. God I can’t stand blatant stupidity.
Moon

‘Do you mind if I check your badge again?’

Oh, geez. You’re just asking for it. If this was Chicago, you’d already have beaten a couple of times and that one would have thrown them over the edge.