Using an Unsecured WiFi System

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

The argument that has been put forth when prosecuting people charged with "theft of services" is that the bandwidth is a limited resource. Hence, when you are using it, you are limiting what is available to the person who originally paid for it. So, rather than being like turning around in someone's driveway, it would be more like parking your car in their driveway when they want to get into the garage.

Now, of course, it's easy to see if someone is trying to get into the garage if you are parked in their driveway. Much more difficult to see if the legitimate owner of the wifi signal is having his streaming video slow down some because you are sending e-mails. Regardless, the courts have held that when you are using some of it, he can't use all of it, and "all of it" is what he paid for. Hence, theft of services.

You present a sound argument and I accept it; however, I find the opportunity of using personal unsecured wi-fi is pretty rare now. As I posted before, I'm still not paying anything directly for internet access while I'm cruising, but I do use many public sources at town centers, libraries, public landings and businesses with complimentary use.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by CaptForce

I find the opportunity of using personal unsecured wi-fi is pretty rare now

The last 3 cheap consumer routers I bought (all different brands) have had WPA2 enabled right out of the box. One has to explicitly turn off the security, and the router software throws up many warnings about doing so and makes you confirm each step.

All cable and fiber modems supplied by the cabals come locked down.

So any open routers nowadays seem to be intentionally set that way to the point of essentially being an invitation to use them.

Or grandma is still using her 1995 Linksys connected to her ADSL line...

Mark