It's stealing so it's immoral and illegal

The Communications Act 2003 says a "person who (a) dishonestly obtains an electronic communications service, and (b) does so with intent to avoid payment of a charge applicable to the provision of that service, is guilty of an offence". There are also suggestions using somebody else's wireless could come under the Computer Misuse Act, usually used to combat hacking and electronic fraud. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6960304.stm and ofcourse not moral, if u are using someones anything, it is stealing, how can it be moral

OK, it might be illegal in some places, though there are areas / cities / states that doesn't have law against electronic communication.. Immoral, well, what is moral to me might be immoral to you, and vice versa. Quoted from the article you linked on your question: "Is it moral for you to pick a few up?" "But if it can be interpreted as illegal, can it be truly said to be immoral?" One of the comments that caught my attention is this: "If the wireless owner has not asked for nor expects a payment for use of their broadband and you have not broken into the system but have connected through normal means then I cannot see how you have either "dishonestly" obtained a service nor avoided any payment. Securing your wireless network is clearly recommended in the instructions so I see no reason not to imply that an open network is open for public use. ***If you don't want people to use your connection: don't broadcast your SSID, secure the connection and/or switch off DHCP.****" -Gareth, Wetherby ****This is true. If you dont want people to use your connection, then make it a secured connection. For me, I will NOT tag it immoral, but I would say its UNETHICAL.

Another point I want to raise about the fact of securing the line... it is the same responsibility as locking your door.. But the only THEFT in the internet would be if one is charged for a certain download limit, time consumption, or number of computers hooked up online. But if its an open connection and someone uses it, its pretty much like standing outside someone's door, saw the tv on and watched for a period of time, then leave. Not taking the tv itself. I must say so too, that this is a very interesting question, kudos. And having an article to refer it to makes plus points too. :)

This is a huge can of worms. My first point is that many users of technology don't understand the technology nor bother learning how to use it properly. There are folks who leave their wifi connections open because they don't know any better and those who leave it open because they don't care if anyone uses it. So the question now becomes - if I used your wifi connection and you don't care, is it stealing? How would I know? How would you know? If it's not stealing, why is it suddenly stealing if you just didn't know any better. Is it stealing if the wifi owner doesn't even notice that others are using their connection? My second point is whether this can even be defined as stealing. Every definition I have read does not even come close to describing what's going on here. My third point has to do with laws. Just because there is a law that says you cannot use someone else's wifi connection, doesn't mean it's right. Sometimes, politicians don't have a clue what they're doing. OH! I just saw some eyebrows go up there. Want proof? There are some internet service providers (ISP), some even in the UK, that as a feature of their service, will supply you with a wifi router that not only allows you to create a wifi connection for yourself, but automatically offers a portion of your bandwidth to the outside world to anyone getting their internet from the same ISP as you. In other words, it's legal, purposeful mobile sharing of wifi bandwidth for the benefit of consumers of the same service. The company hopes to fill the gaps of free wifi by attracting more customers who become free hot spots in their neighbourhood. If I use that, am I stealing? Did I just break the law? Does the law even account for this type of service? It's yet another example of society's lack of understanding of technology and the implications it creates in our day-to-day lives.

Very interesting questions with some very well thought out and intriguing answers. All I have to add is encrypting your wireless is fairly easy, and if you use Linux you can have even more fun: http://ex-parrot.com/~pete/upside-down-ternet.html

I used my neighbour's wireless for about a year, when i got my laptop, until we bought a router and set up internets. I moralised it by saying that if they have unlimited broadband, its not costing any extra money. But in a way, it is stealing, so now i only use it when I cant remember our router WEP key and im using a small device. C:

I say that if they don't have it locked, they don't mind you using it.

I'm doing it right now. The day they put a lock on it is the day I'll figure something else out.

it,s got nothing to do with morality, using someone else's internet connection, without their permission is a criminal offence, fact. but i think it shud only apply if your internet is being used and it 'is' security enabled. i had mine security enabled and somehow my neighbour managed to use my internet without my permission. why should they get the right to free internet when i'm paying 20 qiud a month for it. the scroungers should get their own connection an pay their own way in life instead of living off of other people. but to those of you who do not security enable your connection, your leaving an invitation for anyone to access a service, for free, that you are paying for.

it's got nothing to do with morality, using someone else's internet connection, without their permission is a criminal offence, fact. but i do think it should only apply if your connection is being used and it 'is' security enabled. i had mine security enabled and somehow, my neighbour managed to use my connection without my permission. why should they get the right to free internet when i'm paying 20 quid a month for it. the scroungers should get their own connections an pay their own way, instead of STEALING a connection that someone else has paid for. but to those of you who do not security enable your connection, your leaving an invitation for anyone to access a service that you are paying for, for free.

The question is, is it imoral. Yes if your hacking your way in. No if it's an open connection. I agree that if someone leaves thier connection open they are offering it up for use.

It is stealing and people also do it here in America.

If you ask person who is paying for the internet if you can get wireless internet off them and they say yes I would assume that it would be legal. Correct me if I am wrong.