Well, if you have ever had to “borrow” someone elses wifi connection – here is what I was thinking about today. 1st, there have been cases where people get prosecuted for hacking others wifi. Here are my thoughts on why I dont think it is stealing.
1) If someone has their sprinkler on in their yard and it happens to spray onto the street partially, and you are on the street, and fill up a bucket with water, is it stealing?
2) Your neighbor has a huge picture window, and a huge TV. You live close by. You can watch TV through the picture window just fine. Is this stealing?
3) Back to the sprinkler – what if your neighbor’s sprinkler hits your yard a bit – stealing?
4) Where is the line drawn? If it is a windy day and your neighbor’s leaves from their tree blow in your yard, who should rake them?
5) It is to easy to secure. Don’t broadcast your SSID, turn on MAC address filtering, Using WEP/Tkip, etc. If you do all of these things, and then someone gets your connection – well then it is probably is serious hacking going on, and might be considered a crime.
6) If you have your stereo on and I can hear the CD you are playing – should I have to pay for the CD? phhhh
The bottom line is, people need to be responsible for the technology they own. Just like the guy who needs to be responsible for his sprinkler, TV, radio. Be responsible, take 2 minutes to read up how to secure your wifi router. If not, then expect your connection to be used. 🙂
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