"Judge drops allegation of cyber-crime"

l33tdawg: Just a note from Zanta (who submitted this story): "Cable modem uncappers in Toledo, Ohio have gone through the court system, but there is a typo in The Blade article, the name for the one Sylvania man who got dismissed is not Richard Tetreau.

Thanks!" -- Right mate, thanks for that, but uhmz, why does this concern you? *grin*

A judge yesterday dismissed a cyber-crime charge against a Sylvania man who had been accused of altering his cable computer modem to improve Internet service.

Judge James Barber of Fulton County ruled the cable company had not told George Runner that he could not change the modem.

Mr. Runner, a Toledo attorney, was indicted by a Lucas County grand jury for unauthorized use of computer, cable, or telecommunications property.

He admitted he had reprogrammed his modem to increase the Internet capabilities on his computer when police searched his home last year in a multijurisdictional investigation into the theft of bandwidth from the Internet provider.

But Judge Barber said Buckeye CableSystem, operator of Buckeye Express, which offers high-speed Internet access, didn’t give notice to Mr. Runner that he couldn’t alter his computer. The changes allowed him to have a faster connection with the Internet than he was paying for.

In his ruling, Judge Barber agreed with a motion filed by Mr. Runner’s attorney, Jerome Phillips, asking that the case be dismissed.

Fritz Byers, general counsel for Block Communications, which owns Buckeye CableSystem, said the decision is restricted in scope.