Article published September 25, 2003
Judge drops allegation of cyber-crime
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.
"Judge Barber's opinion makes clear that his decision is limited to the highly unusual facts that the state for whatever reason agreed existed in Mr. Runner's case. Whatever the merits of the ruling, it has no application beyond that case," he said. "Bandwidth theft is a crime and no one should think otherwise."
The case against Mr. Runner, 4561 Westbourne Ct., stems from a June 26, 2002, investigation in which computers and modems were seized from about a dozen residences in Toledo and surrounding suburbs. Authorities said the customers illegally had reconfigured their computer systems to access excessive amounts of bandwidth.
Six other people who were also indicted in September, 2002, in connection with the bandwidth investigation already have gone through the court system.
Thomas Brady, 7213 Cloister Rd., Sylvania, was convicted of the felony charge and placed on community control for three years. Carl Cousino, 5935 Buchanan Drive, and Ryan Dubbs, 2343 Georgetown Ave., were convicted of reduced misdemeanor charges and placed on probation.
Kevin Veres, 1323 Eastland Drive, Oregon, and Brandon Wirtz, 7015 Westwind Drive, Sylvania, went through a diversion program and were not prosecuted. The case against Richard Tetreau, 3225 Plainview Drive, Sylvania, was dismissed at the request of prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Judge Barber's decision in the Runner case will have no impact on the other cases.
Mr. Phillips said Mr. Runner did not sign a contract when he obtained high-speed Internet service from Buckeye CableSystem, and he was never informed, either verbally or under the terms of service, that there were limits on the use of bandwidth.
Mr. Runner, a former Lucas County assistant prosecutor, was solicitor for the village of Waterville until March, 2001. He resigned in the wake of a police investigation in which he was caught on videotape taking village property, including packets of coffee.
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