If I leave my door wide open and put up a sign that says "Private Property, Do Not Enter", it is legally the same as a deadbolt
Yes, and it's not the same as MAC blocking.
You can't answer legal questions with engineering
Technology changes the subtleties upon which laws are based, so you necessarily have to answer a legal question with certain aspects of engineering.
A network that is protected by MAC identification cannot be directly compared to a room protected by a lock and key. In the case of Aaron, you can point to his modification of the MAC as an awareness that his is skirting network policy. Whether breach of network policy should be a felony is another discussion. However, someone who maintains privacy by randomizing his MAC is in a very different situation that looks strikingly similar to the case at hand. Will the courts understand the difference? We can only hope.
Yes, and it's not the same as MAC blocking.
You can't answer legal questions with engineering
Technology changes the subtleties upon which laws are based, so you necessarily have to answer a legal question with certain aspects of engineering.
A network that is protected by MAC identification cannot be directly compared to a room protected by a lock and key. In the case of Aaron, you can point to his modification of the MAC as an awareness that his is skirting network policy. Whether breach of network policy should be a felony is another discussion. However, someone who maintains privacy by randomizing his MAC is in a very different situation that looks strikingly similar to the case at hand. Will the courts understand the difference? We can only hope.