German Court Says Secure Your Wi-Fi or Get Fined

Be responsible netizens, says Germany.

If you live in Germany, then you'd better put a password on your wireless router now.

A German court ruled that those with internet connections hooked up to a wireless access point must put a password to secure it or else face a fine of up to 100 euro, or around $126.

"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, according to the AP.

This ruling came after a musician sued an internet user whose open wireless connection was used to illegally download music over a file sharing network.

The courts, however, will not be holding users responsible for what happens over their wireless network. So, it seems that making a password mandatory is the sensible measure of legal responsibility to put on internet subscribers.