Teenager Gets Probation for Wireless Theft
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
SINGAPORE — A Singaporean teenager who illegally tapped into a neighbor’s wireless Internet network — an offense that the city-state deems punishable by jail — was placed on 18 months’ probation by a district court yesterday.
The court also ordered Garyl Tan Jia Luo, 17, to carry out 80 hours of community service after he confessed to linking his computer to his neighbor’s wireless router to gain access to the Internet without permission. Mr. Tan could have been jailed up to three years and fined $6,500.
Senior District Judge Bala Reddy cited a probation report as saying Mr. Tan had been addicted to Internet gaming at the time of the offense.
Judge Reddy said Mr. Tan should seek “disciplined and structured psychiatric and psychological intervention” to cure his addiction.
Mr. Tan is the first Singaporean to have been prosecuted and convicted for tapping illegally into a wireless Internet network.
