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Confessions of a Wi-Fi Thief
Michelle Shildkret from Time wrote in to tell us about a story about "the ethics of stealing Wi-Fi. Many of us been guilty of the same crime at one point or another — according to the article, 53% of us at least. But how guilty do we really feel? As it is officially a crime to steal wi-fi (Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 47 of the United States Code, which covers anybody who 'intentionally accesses a computer without authorization or exceeds authorized access')."
...that I may or may not be using yours or someone else's unsecured wi-fi access point, Definitely maybe not, to post this response.
Bearded Dragon
-516
We'll today'll be the last time I heat my burrito in the microwave in "Executives Only" lounge, lest I be charged under Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 47...
I'm also pretty sure laptops don't get criminal trials
Check out my sysadmin blog!
Sure they do, mr 57.85.0.6
Besides, how else are you supposed to get Internet when you first move? It took Comcast two weeks to come and set me up (and I'm a business customer). I'm sure it'll change one day... but until then, checking for and using a neighbor's wifi is just another part of moving!
You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
If the access point is broadcasting a signal which says that it isn't open I don't use it, even if it's using an insecure system such as WEP which might reasonably be treated as an invitation to hack.
This is apparently some definition of the term "reasonably" of which I was previously unaware.
Check out my sysadmin blog!
My blog
When I use WiFi signals that are in the air somewhere that I've got a right to be myself, like in my own home or office, I feel the same way about using it as I do when I use an electrical ground wire. Or reading a newspaper in the incident light.
If those electrons or photons are trespassing in my private property, whoever sent them there is fortunate that I don't take countermeasures, in court or with a lethal focusing reflector.
--
make install -not war
I bet drinking fountains ruin your day.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
What if you're standing exactly on the border between Germany and Singapore?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
*sigh*
Three things are certain in life:
1. Death
2. Taxes
3. Increasingly complicated analogy wars in discussions of wi-fi freeriding
Information theory is life. The rest is just the KL divergence.
And the router owner pays extra for downloading a certain amount of GBs per month. The analogy holds. No wait, this is Slashdot... Does anyone have a car analogy?
Slashdot anagrams to "Sad Sloth"
I know where you live, I have your traceroute.
Not true. Haven't you heard? The U.S. Supreme Court has now granted full U.S. Constitutional protections to laptops. Even if they're being detained at Gitmo.
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
A bad analogy is like a leaky screwdriver.
See my Home Theater
5nd? It sounds more like it was written by a 3th grader.
Indeed. I think there may be no way at all to differentiate between a router left open deliberately and one left open purposefully.
And in California you can marry them!
"I only speak the truth"
Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
Hm. Can my laptop and I adopt children? Although I'm not exactly sure what sort of parent that it'd be. It appears to have "issues" with pornography.
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
I'm sorry, without the car, I'm lost.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
If you simply enter a house, stand around inside, and leave when asked without breaking anything, you have committed no crime.
:)
I have GOT to try that! Where do you live?
When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.
Let me help clean this up in the best way I know how. It's like if your neighbor's WiFi router were transmitting cars through the air to your house. You didn't ask for the cars, but you go ahead and get in one and drive off. Is that a crime?