As we mentioned before, leaving a Wi-Fi access point unencrypted can cause more harm than wanted users hogging bandwidth.  For example, if someone downloads copyrighted material using an open Wi-Fi network, the owner is at risk of being landed a lawsuit from the music or movie industry.  Well, in Germany, a person who left his Wi-Fi access point open was taken to court by a musician accused of unauthorised downloading its songs. 

While it is unclear whether the owner of the Internet connection to that access point was the culprit for downloading the songs, the defence tried suggesting that authorised access to his open access point was reason for the unauthorised downloading.  The plaintiff on the other hand argued that as it was his connection, he should have been responsible for protecting it.  The court agreed and the musician won its case.

Recently, the owner of the access point appealed the decision and this time the judge in Frankfurt overturned the ruling.  In this case, the judge stated that if someone accesses an open Wi-Fi network without the owner's consent and downloads copyrighted material, the owner of the access point cannot automatically be held liable for their activity. 

This ruling could have a devastating effect on content owners, since other people sued for downloading copyrighted material can try following this person's move by simply plugging an open access point to their network and using this as their excuse for the unauthorised activity on their connection.  On the other hand, if the person's computer is confiscated for evidence, all it takes is finding some content the owner is accused of downloading for the access point to be effectively ruled out.