Das Buch Wer mitmacht, hat Recht!

Now, not only is possession of Hacker-Tools illegal in Germany, no, now you’re getting in big, big trouble if you’re a social person, sharing your wireless internet connection.

In Germany you’re responsible for…

• ... what people post on your forum or blog
• ... the content of external websites you link to (even tho they are not your websites)
• ... every crime committed using your free wifi hotspot

That’s what a certain law says, that was already used SEVERAL times to SUCCESSFULLY convict people.

The law in question defines the term “interferer accountability” .
Meaning: If THEY think you’re offering something, knowingly, willingly, so others can misuse it.. YOU are responsible!
You can’t even claim “you didn’t know”. You’re supposed to read up on whatever possibilities to break a law you might be offering.

If you’re running a free, open, wireless hotspot in Germany and someone (mis)uses your internet connection for, say, piracy, you’re responsible.
At least that’s what the court of appeal in Frankfurt/Main ruled just a few days ago.

This ruling had me take down two Fon social wireless access points here in the house.
They [Fon] allowed unauthenticated users to get a couple of free minutes on any Fon access point without authentication. This was part of a promotional stunt but put every Fonero in Germany at risk to get sued for what those people did!

No more free wireless from my place!
Blame the German law, and the court in Frankfurt!

Source: Law-Blog: OLG Frankfurt zu unverschlüsseltem WLAN und Störerhaftung