On Vacation and 'Stealing' Internet

So, this week I am on vacation and my internet connection has been a connection to unsecured WIFI from another vacation unit. It is slow and I disconnect whenever I am not using it because I am paranoid, but is it illegal to use unsecured wifi? I mean if someone is going to leave a network unsecured aren't they sort of inviting you to use it?

Anyway, I am sitting here pondering my insufferably slow (but free) connection and wondering if it is actually illegal. Does anyone know or should I log off now?!

ETA: I know many here would prefer I do log off, but I am actually asking if it is illegal or just frowned upon? What do others think?

It is not illegal as long as you have free access to it and its not password protected.


Just dont abuse it too much.

All Mc Donalds Lowes and Home Depot have free WIFi

a reply to: Metallicus

If they leave their keys in the car, can you just go for a ride?

Are they not just asking for you to use it?

Theft is theft!

You are slowing down their connection, using their precious download limits .....

You are stealing.

You do not need a lawyer, you need your parents to teach you right from wrong.

P

a reply to: Metallicus I think its called piggybacking, and its likely illegal, and by the way, you know you are being watched right?


By God....



Just messin with you Bro. Stay safe

a reply to: pheonix358

I mean yeah I feel dirty and all for doing it...but, I need me some internet!

a reply to: pheonix358

Oh, please. I hope that there was sarcasm that I didn't pick up on whilst reading that statement.

You're fine, dude. They didn't protect via password, and left the connection open. Use it when you need internet & don't stress. It isn't illegal. Just log off when you arent using it!

Metallicus is a MONSTER!

a reply to: Metallicus

Nah its not illegal... said person has the ability to lock his net...

IF they didn't... its free for all...

Its legal in some places and illegal in others. I researched it about a year ago. I was gong to set up a special antenna, but decided against it. heres what wiki say about it

Piggybacking (Internet access)


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For other uses, see Piggybacking.

Piggybacking on Internet access is the practice of establishing a wireless Internet connection by using another subscriber's wireless Internet access service without the subscriber's explicit permission or knowledge. It is a legally and ethically controversial practice, with laws that vary by jurisdiction around the world. While completely outlawed or regulated in some places, it is permitted in others.

A customer of a business providing hotspot service, such as a hotel or café, is generally not considered to be piggybacking, though non-customers or those outside the premises who are simply in reach may be. Many such locations provide wireless Internet access as a free or paid-for courtesy to their patrons or simply to draw people to the area.[1] Others near the premises may be able to gain access.

Piggybacking is distinct from wardriving, which involves only the logging or mapping of the existence of access points.



Piggybacking has become a widespread practice in the 21st century due to the advent of wireless Internet connections and Wireless access points. Computer users who either do not have their own connections or who are outside the range of their own might find someone else's by wardriving or luck and use that one.

However, those residing near a hotspot or another residence with the service have been found to have the ability to piggyback off such connections without patronizing these businesses, which has led to more controversy. While some may be in reach from their own home or nearby, others may be able to do so from the parking lot of such an establishment,[2] from another business that generally tolerates the user's presence, or from the public domain. Others, especially those living in apartments or town houses, may find themselves able to use a neighbour's connection.

Wi-Fi hotspots (unsecured and secured) have already been recorded (to some degree) with GPS-coordinates. Sites such as Wigle.net and WifiMaps provide this information.

Long range antennas can be hooked up to laptop computers with an external antenna jack - these allow a user to pick up a signal from as far as several kilometers away. Since unsecured wireless signals can be found readily in most urban areas, laptop owners may find free or open connections almost anywhere. While 2.4 and 5.8 GHz antennas are commercially available and easily purchased from many online vendors, they are also relatively easy to make. Laptops and tablets that lack external antenna jacks can rely on external Wi-Fi modems with radios - many requiring only USB or Power over Ethernet (PoE) power connections which the laptop can itself easily provide from its own battery.

Reasons[edit]

There are many reasons why Internet users desire to piggyback on other's networks.

For some, the cost of Internet service is a factor. Many computer owners who cannot afford a monthly subscription to an Internet service, who only use it occasionally, or who otherwise wish to save money and avoid paying, will routinely piggyback from a neighbour or a nearby business, or visit a location providing this service without being a paying customer. If the business is large and frequented by many people, this may go largely unnoticed. Yet other piggybackers are regular subscribers to their own service, but are away from home when they wish to gain Internet access and do not have their own connection available at all or at an agreeable cost.

Often, a user will access a network completely by accident, as the network access points and computer's wireless cards and software are designed to connect easily by default. This is common when away from home or when the user's own network is not behaving correctly. Such users are often unaware that they are piggybacking, and the subscriber has not noticed. Regardless, piggybacking is difficult to detect unless the user can be viewed by others using a computer under suspicious circumstances.

Less often, it is used as a means of hiding illegal activities, such as downloading child pornography or engaging in identity theft. This is one main reason for controversy.[3]

Network owners leave their networks unsecured for a variety of reasons. They may desire to share their Internet access with their neighbours or the general public or may be intimidated by the knowledge and effort required to secure their network while making it available to their own laptops. Some wireless networking devices may not support the latest security mechanisms, and users must therefore leave their network unsecured. For example, the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite can only access wireless routers using the discredited WEP standard, however, the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS both support WPA encryption. Given the rarity of such cases where hosts have been held liable for the activities of piggybackers, they may be unaware or unconcerned about the risks they incur by not securing their network, or of a need for an option to protect their network.

Some jurisdictions have laws requiring residential subscribers to secure their networks (e.g., in France "négligence caractérisée" in HADOPI). Even where not required by law, landlords might request that tenants secure their networks as a condition of their lease[citation needed].

Legality[edit]

Main article: Legality of piggybacking

Views[edit]

Views on the ethics of piggybacking vary widely. Many support the practice, stating it is harmless, and that it benefits the piggybacker at no expense to others, while others criticize it with terms like "leeching", "mooching", or "freeloading". A variety of analogies are made in public discussions to relate the practice to more familiar situations. Advocates compare the practice to:
Sitting behind another passenger on a train, and reading their newspaper over their shoulder.[3]
Enjoying the music a neighbour is playing in their backyard.
Using a drinking fountain.
Sitting in a chair put in a public place.
Reading from the light of a porch light or streetlamp.
Accepting an invitation to a party, since unprotected wireless routers can be interpreted as being open to use.
Borrowing a cup of sugar[4]

Opponents to piggybacking compare the practice to:
Entering a home just because the door is unlocked
Hanging on the outside of a bus to obtain a free ride.
Connecting one's own wire to a neighbour's house to obtain free cable TV service when the neighbour is a subscriber.

The piggybacker is using the connection paid for by another without sharing the cost. This is especially commonplace in an apartment building where many residents live within the normal range of a single wireless connection. Some residents are able to gain free Internet access while others pay. Many ISPs charge monthly rates, however, so there is no difference in cost to the network owner. Excessive piggybacking may slow the host's connection, with the host typically unaware of the reason for the reduction of speed. This is more of a problem where a large number of persons are engaging in this practice, suc

Back in the olden days when I

Had. To. Connect.

I could just drive a block or two down any decent residential street, park on the street, do my thang and get back on the road. McDonalds was a Godsend.

a reply to: Metallicus

Look at it this way, if you had an unsecured network setup at your house, would you expect someone not to use it?

originally posted by: rockintitz
a reply to: Metallicus

Look at it this way, if you had an unsecured network setup at your house, would you expect someone not to use it?

If I left it unsecured it would be because I didn't care if it was used by others.

I *think* that is what I will believe about this connection.

a reply to: Metallicus

You could always leave a thank you note and consider yourself a 'white hat.'

Faced with 'free' internet or 'no' internet, you made the best choice! Not the 'legal' one, but certainly the best one. Most of us would do the same thing.

You should maybe check their doors are locked too. Who knows? Might be some good stuff in their drinks cabinet!! Lol. (joking)

originally posted by: Metallicus
ETA: I know many here would prefer I do log off, but I am actually asking if it is illegal or just frowned upon? What do others think?

It doesn't matter what you think. It doesn't matter what I think. It probably does matter what 'the judge' thinks.

And you said it right in the OP's subject ... stealing.

I'd have a problem doing it if I was burning up somebody's data plan on their phone. On a rented wifi link in another vacation unit ... I wouldn't even feel paranoid. Who's gonna be checking?

originally posted by: Snarl

originally posted by: Metallicus
ETA: I know many here would prefer I do log off, but I am actually asking if it is illegal or just frowned upon? What do others think?

It doesn't matter what you think. It doesn't matter what I think. It probably does matter what 'the judge' thinks.

And you said it right in the OP's subject ... stealing.

I'd have a problem doing it if I was burning up somebody's data plan on their phone. On a rented wifi link in another vacation unit ... I wouldn't even feel paranoid. Who's gonna be checking?

I would imagine the people that are actually in the unit are renting and probably are sleeping seeing as it is almost 3am and I am a night owl. I am sure I am not causing too much of a problem.

I could always use the...couldn't go a week without ATS defense.

It could work.

I don't know what the situation is for the people whose connection you are using but I pay for a certain amount of broadband access a month and will be charged extra if I go over my allowance.

You might end up causing your neighbour to be out of pocket. They don't deserve that just for failing to secure their network.

Can't you get a Dongle or something? If other people can connect to the internet legally, surely you can too?

originally posted by: Metallicus
I mean if someone is going to leave a network unsecured aren't they sort of inviting you to use it?

Dunno where people get this idea from that that if they harm someone in some way they are inviting or asking for it. Funny how people twist other peoples failings, lack of awareness or a lack of knowledge or experience, into justification for exploiting them in some way.

I often wonder about the mental stability of such people because its this kind of person who would say " I am not responsible for having sex with that woman because I could see part of her breast when I was standing next to her on the train so therefore its her fault that I had sex with her without her consent.

For what its worth, if you takeover their internet connection you are stealing their bandwidth. You are also committing trespass against their property and no, you do not have the right to take candy from a baby just because its easy to do.

Why do I suspect your moral compass is pointing somewhere other than north?

a reply to: Metallicus

Why buy the cow when the milk is for free?

That's the question here.

a reply to: Metallicus


That's it. You're going to Hell.

There are some routers out there that can be configured with a closed wifi for the interior network and an open to the internet guest access which has no password. If the network has a custom name like my house or apt 368g or something that is not default (netgear-5346) I would assume that the owner of the wifi set up a guest access for people to use. Considering Most routers NOW come with the wifi turned off by default until it is turned on, and setting up a password is part of the process the chances and opportunity of a non intentional open wifi are getting slimmer.

Either they choose to open it which means go ahead, or they got some really old junk and have not upgraded and most likely do not understand their equipment...

Best bet is look at the name of the network if it is not a default then it could be viewed as intentionally opened.