Has the law caught up with Technology yet?
In a recent discussion telling dumb user stories, I had a handful of members jump me because I had used someones WiFi connection for a few days for email and a quick TR fix.
Some claimed anyone doing this is a thief, while others tried to make it a moral issue of ethics.
I did a search, and found nothing specifically stating this is illegal although I did find two cases in process right now. One in the UK and one in the US.
http://news.com.com/FAQ+Wi-Fi+mooching+and+the+law/2100-7351_3-5778822.html?tag=nl.caro
http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/08/08/HNwifi_1.html
Wording stating unauthorized access to a computer or a network was as close as I could come to an actual law.
I think most people that do this (myself included) would not if it was clear that there actually is a law against it. How close do you think we are to that?
If it not against the law, how can anyone claim it is unethical? Based on what? The person that left their open access point is missing what at the end of the day? They have been harmed in no way and nothing has been taken from them.
And I am not talking about some clown that is hacking, or sucking up massive amounts of bandwidth so please don’t waste anyones time with that angle.
I guess I would also not include a home user that doesn’t have their own connection and goes off a neighbor full time.
