Sniffing open Wi-Fi networks is not wiretapping, judge says

A federal judge in Illinois has ruled that intercepting traffic on unencrypted Wi-Fi networks is not wiretapping.

The decision runs counter to a 2011 decision that suggested Google may have violated the law when its Street View cars intercepted fragments of traffic from open Wi-Fi networks around the country. The ruling is a preliminary step in a larger patent trolling case. A company called Innovation IP Ventures has accused various "hotels, coffee shops, restaurants, supermarkets," and other businesses that offer Wi-Fi service to the public of infringing 17 of its patents. Innovatio wanted to use packet sniffing gear to gather Wi-Fi traffic for use as evidence in the case. It planned to immediately delete the contents of the packets, only keeping the headers. Still, the firm was concerned that doing so might violate federal privacy laws, so it sought a preliminary ruling on the question.