Information technology experts and lawyers say Tan was the first in Singapore, and possibly Asia, to be sentenced in court for "wireless mooching," or piggybacking on an unsecured wireless network to surf the Internet.

A judge in the Singapore District Court sentenced him to 18 months' probation in January.

Singapore appears to be the regional pioneer in clamping down on wireless network freeloaders, IT experts and lawyers said.

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They said they are not aware of similar prosecutions in the Asia-Pacific region, and that only a handful of cases had emerged over the past three years in North America.

"There is no similar criminal case in Hong Kong. And we believe Singapore is quite a pioneer in this area," said Howard Lau Hon-leung, president of Hong Kong's Professional Information Security Association.

The Singapore case may set a precedent in Asia and "open the floodgates for similar prosecutions," said Aloysious Cheang, president of the Special Interest Group in Security and Information Integrity.

Moochers make up an estimated 5percent to 10 percent of the region's wireless traffic at any time, said Bernie Trudel, principal security consultant at network firm Cisco Systems Asia Pacific.

Residential wireless networks are more vulnerable to piggybackers than corporate networks because only about 40 to 50 percent of home networks are secured, compared with 80 to 90 percent for corporate users, Trudel said.

In Singapore, Garyl Tan was charged under Singapore's Computer Misuse Act for securing access without authority to a computer to obtain computer services.

Tan got probation, but conviction could have brought him up to three years' imprisonment, a S$10,000 (HK$51,462) fine, or both.

Although wireless mooching is not unusual across Asia, prosecutions are uncommon. Lawyers who specialize in information technology law cite the low priority placed on mooching offenses, the difficulty in tracking offenders and an absence of laws against piggybacking.

"While there are laws in Hong Kong and South Korea relating to unauthorized access to computer systems like hacking, I couldn't find any laws prohibiting wi-fi piggybacking," said Cyril Chua, a lawyer in Singapore.

Under Hong Kong's Telecommunications Ordinance, any person who knowingly causes a computer to obtain unauthorized access to any program data held in a computer, is liable on conviction to a fine of HK$20,000.

Chua said the Hong Kong provision is essentially against hacking rather than wireless mooching, which involves unauthorized access to a network.

Even in countries where wireless piggybacking is outlawed, enforcement is difficult, Tan said.

"The sheer number of wi-fi networks used at homes is so large and typically are not monitored by experts. Therefore, it would be difficult to identify whether unauthorized access has taken place," he said.

Home users who pay for unlimited Internet access would also not be bothered if others tap into their bandwidth, he said.

"So we typically see prosecution when related to other crimes which cause harm," he said.

Less than a month after Tan's sentencing, a 21-year-old man was in court for another Singapore case related to wireless mooching.

But Lin Zhenghuang was sentenced to three months' imprisonment and fined HK$22,000. He had posted an online bomb hoax while piggybacking on a neighbor's wireless network.

A Singapore police spokesman said they "do not specifically track offenses involving wi-fi" but do investigate "any allegation of crime as and when it is reported."

Garyl Tan's arrest followed a complaint by a passerby who called police when he saw a teenager sitting by the road using his laptop late at night.

With the worldwide spread of wireless technology, Singapore lawyer Tan said he expects more cases of wireless piggybacking to reach the courts.

"There are millions of wi-fi networks around the world and it is only a matter of time and evidence before more cases surface," Tan said.

Garyl Tan's case has emphasized the need for tighter wireless network security, said Daniel Seng, a lecturer at the National University of Singapore.

None of that was on Tan's mind when he sat on the curb outside his home at about 2am last May 13.

A computer games addict, he had gone outside to piggyback onto any available wireless network because his mother had confiscated his computer modem. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE