4 edits | Two points. First, if your unsecured wifi signal is in my home (my neighbor)then I have a right to do whatever I want with it. Second is the issue of damages. If I get on your unsecured wifi signal to surf the net then how have you been damaged?
Now, if you secure your signal and I take steps to circumvent that security THEN I've committed a crime. Or, if I come onto your property to access your unsecured signal then I've also committed a crime. The bottom line is, if you have an unsecured wifi signal that is available in a public space or in another persons private space then that signal is fair and LEGAL game as long as I don't attempt to access any computer that's on that network.
The fact is that there are free available wifi networks all over the place now. How am I to discern which is "okay" to get on and which isn't? The burden is on the wifi provider. If you offer up an unsecured wifi signal then it's reasonable for someone to assume that it's available for them to use.
I don't mean to throw another analogy on the fire here but this is very much like something that used to go on in the 1800's in the Midwest and western US. Back then there was a thing called "Free-graze". Basically it meant that if you had a large piece of land and you didn't fence that land then it was open for anyone to graze their livestock on. What we are seeing here is really no different then that. |
