Who doesn't like having the conveniences of cable and internet services? But the services come at a pretty hefty price premium. When we were younger and split the bill with roommates it didn't seem so bad, but now that we're all grown up and living on our own, the entire bill is ours to pay. Well what if we wanted to save some money and share internet or TV with our neighbors, is that legal? Or if we found an unprotected WiFi signal, could we just hop on for free?
For the amount of time many of us spend at home watching TV or using the Internet, the usage doesn't always seem quite inline with the expensive bill. So what if you and your neighbors plan ahead and split a single internet or TV connection? Unfortunately the reality of TV or internet sharing is that you're probably violating your terms of service as agreed upon with your provider. While doing so may or may not be technically illegal, it is most likely a breach of contract and you could be subject to termination of service, fines, or even civil penalties.
Well what if your neighbor set up the connection and opened up their WiFi for you to join? Unfortunately that's also in the terms of service you agreed to when you signed your service agreement with your provider. Just because it's wireless and easy doesn't mean it's any more allowable. It's not like your neighbor ran a coax cable over to your doorstep for you, which would be sweet.
So what if you're just hanging around and you see an exposed and unsecured network? And it just so happens to be your neighbors and you just happen to buy him dinner once a month for exactly the price of half the bill? Precedence has been set before that you're still illegally accessing someone else's private network, but there are some areas where the latest thinking is that accessing an unsecure network doesn't count as unauthorized use because the openly exposed network counts as authorization - as in exposing yourself with an unsecured network is granting permission to others to use it. But your mileage may vary depending on your local laws.
So unless you're sly about it, it's probably not allowed. For those who willfully circumvent their terms of service, well you're just living on the edge. But then again, the breeze and view is much cheaper out there.
(Sources: Cox Communications Policies, About.com)
(Images: Flickr members jem, superfem, WordRidden licensed for use under Creative Commons)
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The way I look at it is that by glomming on to your neighbor's open wifi, you're doing him a favor. The more neighbors who use that unprotected signal, the slower his connection will be, and the more likely that he'll eventually call up his service provider and ask why the heck is connection is so gluey, at which point they'll ask him: "Have you secured the signal with a password?" and the clouds will part and sunshine can enter his life. It's a good thing.
You joke about running coax between dwellings, but that's exactly what we did back in the college days. Pre-wifi then, of course; that sure would have made life simpler.
You left out the points that sharing an unsecured connection puts everything you type at risk. Any sort of online banking or financial or sensitive sites that you visit are at risk. Not to mention, you're simply being a douchebag. The more people on the network, the slower it is. You're messing with someone else's ability to download, Skype, or play multiplayer games. It's just plain rude.
i love the user name on the 5th one down
:)
There is an unprotected WiFi network in my neighborhood called "ISTEALPASSWORDS."
Leave it open.
Download torrents.
Blame someone else.
If they have a printer shared, print something like "Your Wi-Fi is not secured, get that shizzle fixed before all your stuff is haxx0red. Call the router manufacturer or your internet provider for help"
Also, even sharing a protected connection with permission outside your dwelling is usually against the ISP's TOS. I doubt they'd do anything about it if you stay within all their other parameters (bandwidth caps etc.) but be aware.
really? i haven't paid for internet in 6 years thanks to various neighbors that are dumb (or nice) enough to have unsecured networks. we have everything encrypted and hidden on our computers and i'm not incredibly worried about someone seeing my netflix queue. sorry boutcha folks but i'm just not ever going to feel bad about keeping my dollars away from comcast or att.