This is for a better undestanding of how the Romanian legislation aproach the connection of an "alien" Wi-Fi enabled device to Internet through a Wi-Fi router
In this case, although, it may seems to be an illegal access to a computer system (whereas the computer system is the Wi-Fi Router), there are no technical evidences to sustain such option. The culprit is not actually looking for entering (accessing) the router, but merely to connect to internet via the radio signal broadcasted by it.
The router provides the “illegal” device with a local IP and ensures data packets transmitting or receiving in its network and beyond, but this is more likely a “connection to a communication service” than an access to the system.
There are also no technical indications for an illegal interception of a data transmission, because the alien Wi-Fi device does not perform an interception of a non-public transmission of data (as requested by the CoE Convention and art. 43 of Romanian Law no.161/2003), but gets its “own” signal/transmission through the router’s interface.
Currently, in Romania, the only possible legal charge may be the theft of an economic-valued energy (incriminated and punished by art. 208, paragraph 2, of the Criminal Code).
For all that, the New Criminal Code (set to come into force in late 2013), offers a more concrete legal response to this Wi-Fi connection by the incrimination of the act of illegal using the terminal of another or the unauthorized connection to a public communications service or network.
