Watching Stolen Cable

[Aloysius]

when you broadcast a wifi signal, you're broadcasting it to everyone around.  tapping into such a wifi signal is no different than tuning into a radio station.  it is freely broadcast.  it's pretty well legally established that that wifi signal is NOT someone else's property that you'd be stealing, it has the same legal status as a radio signal.

 

plenty of people actually leave their wifi signal without password protection because they don't mind sharing.

 

unless you password protect your wifi signal, you are broadcasting it to share.  you have every legal right to do so, unlike cable which you do not have the rights to share.  but connecting to a wifi signal is never stealing (unless you hacked into a password protected wifi signal) any more than tuning into a radio station is stealing from the radio.  it all depends on if they're holding it as their own property or broadcasting it freely, and then the question would become whether they have the rights to share it freely (your neighbor pays for cable with an agreement that it's only allowed to be used in his house, so he doesn't have the right to share it with you, but his agreement with the internet provider does not have that status and therefore he has the right to share it with you if he wishes)

[fides' Jack]

"Stealing wifi"?  As in, "stealing" access to someone's network?  

 

Or are we talking about using someone's unprotected wifi to gain access to the internet?  Well, then, you're technically stealing cable/dsl/whatever - so even if the wifi part isn't really stealing, you're still stealing a service from a company - not necessarily from the person you accessed it from.

 

Aloysius - I think you're off your rocker here.  A wifi signal does not have the same legal status as a radio signal.  The only similarity is that it uses a radio signal.  But the dynamics are all different - with a radio, you're just receiving.  With networks, there's back and forth data being transmitted.  I think the recent thing with Google is enough to prove that it's not considered the same legally as a radio.

Also - anyone with an unprotected access point isn't going to be savvy enough to be able to actually get information about encrypted information going to computers on their network.  Unless that's their intent.  :)

[Aloysius]

it is 100% legal to use a wifi signal that is not password protected.  there is no law against it, no one has ever gotten legally in trouble for it, it is, quite simply, not against the law in any way.

 

it is 100% legal to share your wifi signal with as many people as can access it.  I have never heard of an internet access wifi contract that limited how many people you were allowed to give access to your wifi signal, I don't think such an agreement exists.  it is not treated the way cable is.

 

if you broadcast a wifi signal without a password, you are inviting people to share it.  plently of people do this knowing full well that they are sharing, there is nothing wrong with them doing that.

 

it is not legal to share your cable with others, your cable contract specifies that.

[Aloysius]

after a quick google search it's actually possible I'm mistaken and there might be some laws in some places against it.... for the most part, however, I agree with this assessment:

 

http://blogs.computerworld.com/why_its_ok_to_steal_wi_fi

 

I don't really consider accessing a wifi signal to be "stealing" in any sense of the word, unless you deliberately hack into it, because if it's being freely broadcast it's being freely shared, and they have every right to freely share it.

 

however, it is possible that there are some laws in some places against it.

[Winchester]

Hacking a cable wire is a form of trespass. Accessing a wifi signal that enters your property is not.

[fides' Jack]

A wifi "signal" is not just something that enters your property.  It's back and forth - not just one way, like an FM radio signal.  You actually have to send your own signal to it in order to get access.

 

The idea in your link that you're using something that someone left in your house is just plain wrong.  The router does broadcast - but it only broadcasts its existence.  You have to then broadcast to it, in the other person's house, in order to get a connection.  

 

The analogy of the open door of the neighbor's house is much more accurate.  From the street, you can see that your neighbor's door is open, and you can see a fruit basket waiting inside.  It's not necessarily an invitation, but nothing is stopping you, either.  Like the fruit basket, most people would object to you accessing their network simply because they didn't secure it properly - or forgot to close the door.

 

However, I've never actually read the contract that I sign with an ISP.  I know cable companies don't allow you to share your signal with others; ISPs might be different in that regard.  If that's the case, then intentionally sharing with your neighbor might be OK (I know some people do that).  If it's not (and it might depend on the contract), then it's illegal to do so.  On the other hand, accessing someone's wireless network without permission will always be morally wrong.  They don't have control over the distance that it broadcasts.

[Aloysius]

as the link I posted argued, it's more like an open door with a "come on in" sign when your broadcast a wifi signal without a password.  I have personally known people who have done so because they were freely sharing, and I assume anyone who does so has the same intentions of freely sharing.  honestly, I have no reason to assume that the person who is broadcasting an open wifi signal has any intention other than freely sharing, is there any reason to assume that they are not?

[Winchester]

Better analogy: My neighbor puts his basket of fruit on my doorstep.

 

One must demarcate property one doesn't want used--exclude it from common areas. The equivalent of that with a wifi signal is setting up the password.

[Slappo]

Maybe I should file charges for trespassing when my neighbor's wifi transmissions access my airspace without my express permission :|.

 

After all, his wireless signals in my house will clog my airstream and prevent my own wireless signals from reaching my computer as easily.

[fides' Jack]

as the link I posted argued, it's more like an open door with a "come on in" sign when your broadcast a wifi signal without a password.  I have personally known people who have done so because they were freely sharing, and I assume anyone who does so has the same intentions of freely sharing.  honestly, I have no reason to assume that the person who is broadcasting an open wifi signal has any intention other than freely sharing, is there any reason to assume that they are not?

 

Well, you know what assuming does, I assume?  :saint2:

Edited February 6, 2013 by fides' Jack