A much better analogy is if you are walking down the street and you hear someones music because their window is open. You’ve now used their electricity and committed copywrite infringement. That’s much more like the scenario than the ‘if the door isn’t locked it’s OK to steal’.

On the other hand, if they have WEP enabled, and you crack it . . . even if it only takes a second or two, you are now stealing. To everyone, if you don’t want people on your network just disable SSID broadcasts and use WPA or better. This will stop most of the free loaders.

Just like locking your doors when you go out, if someone REALLY wants in your house, just like your network, they will get in. If you’ve done enough to make yourself less of a target than someone else, that’s all you can do.

that said I’d have no problem paying a fair price for net access but I don’t want to also pay for cable or phone because I don’t want to bring that into my life. Did it before won’t again.

It’s taking something that you want, that you don’t want to pay for and dressing it up in the name of “frugality”. I think its the height of cheapness - if you must have wireless internet, pay for it yourself.

The fact that there’s a section here about the potential legal prosecution for doing this indicates to me that yeah, it is pretty much a wrong move, and everyone knows it.

I personally don’t like the “leaving the door open” analogy since I don’t think it’s as on point. I liken it more to someone playing music and the neighbor listening in for free.

But yes, everyone should take the appropriate basic steps to secure their wireless connection. It’s so easy - a caveman could do it - a caveman who is willing to read the router instruction manual that is.

Of course, I’m an uber-geek, too, and think people who don’t secure their networks are just plan stupid (or really nice).

When I moved in to this apartment, across the hall from my sister and her husband, they let me steal their wireless, which is secured because he is also an uber-geek. They wouldn’t let me steal their cable, though Even when I offered to pay half for it

Also somebody using your wireless can get you in trouble: downloading of copyrighted material (RIAA lawsuit???), spam, …

Just pay for your own connection. Is that too much to ask?

I share the same sentiment, except I have a difficult time seeing wireless piggy backing as “theft” when it has been knowingly sent into the public airwaves and readily and even perhaps non intentionally picked up by stray laptops.

Pit,

I disagree somewhat. I liken wireless piggy backing to that of music being played in one’s own home. If the music leaks out of your home, you cannot go around forcing everyone to cover their ears whenever they walk by your home, lest they deprive you of exclusive enjoyment of the audio music.

Wireless owners can attempt to offer constructive notice of exclusive usage by password protecting their network. I agree that hacking and attempting to crack the network security measures would constitute theft, but I’m not sure passively accessing a publicly available and completely unsecured wireless signal from your own home would be.