Sunday, July 26, 2009

Lunchtime Poll Topic: Late Night Bonus Edition!

This couldn't wait until Friday. I need your input immediately.


Using your neighbor's unsecured wi-fi without their permission: Illegal? Immoral? All of the above?




I'm totally using pirated wi-fi right now. Not at my house, mind you. I'm babysitting for a friend who would prefer to remain anonymous.

Here's the situation--She was having problems with her internet provider, so she cancelled her internet subscription and now exclusively uses her neighbor's unsecured network. The neighbor doesn't know.

I say it's immoral, and under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, it's also a federal offense. But let's take the legal part out of this. Is it morally right?

I think if your neighbor is aware and has given permission, then by all means, it's fine in my book. Otherwise, it's stealing, plain and simple. The neighbor is paying for a connection. They're paying for the right to a certain amount of bandwidth. They're paying for a certain conection speed. How is it right that you are using the service they pay for for free? Using up the bandwidth they paid for, slowing down the connection speed they paid for? We pay an additional $10 a month for a faster speed. That would be $10 wasted if a neighbor was pirating our internet!

O.K., I'll quit ranting now and disconnect from the stolen internet before the Feds come knocking.

Let the debate commence!


No comments:

Post a Comment

Be nice or I'll punch you in the taco.

LinkWithin