I'm unfamiliar with MIT's guest setup, but I assume they let you get an IP address, but before you can access anything, you have to acknowledge their terms of s

I'm unfamiliar with MIT's guest setup, but I assume they let you get an IP address, but before you can access anything, you have to acknowledge their terms of service / acceptable use policy. If you fail to abide by this, you'd be accessing the network without permission. You're right that (as alleged), this would be an obvious attempt to circumvent access controls. Given the way things are worded, I'm guessing that the MIT computer that was improperly accessed was a router or switch. Hell, just plugging into the switch directly could be construed as unapproved access to a computer device. I think the Federal law treats anything with a processor a computer.