if you have a wifi router, be smart enough to put a password on it.

Sure, great idea (smirk). Put people in jail for using other UNSECURED wireless, but Lindsay goes free from 2 DUI's & Coke possession. This is absolutely silly! I don't think it could really be policed her in the states. If you don't want people using your wireless make it secure. Simple!

It actually has been policed here in the states. There was a man who every morning would drive up and park his car outside of a coffee shop and check his email and go online using their wifi. A cop actually questioned the character and he was arrested. He wasn't a paying patron so he was "stealing". Is it so hard to buy a cookie for your wifi?

i don't know if other cities have it, but here in pittsburgh downtown is wireless allowing you to use 2 hours a day for free, or you can subscribe and get it unlimited.

i'm on the fence because i use my job's wifi for my iphone use and i was at the dr's office today and my iphone picked up their wifi too....so I'm i wrong for that...i mean i wouldn't sit out someones house just to get connection.

I feel that is so silly, u can easily put a a password on your wireless if u dont want someone else using it but its only a connect its not that serious

When my connection goes out, I often use others that broadcast into my house - i figure if it's unsecured and it's broadcasting to my house, why not? I never try to hack anyone - and really if they don't care enough to secure it, then i guess it's their faults.

Technically they are stealing from the company and from the subscriber but I do believe that it is up to the subscriber and the company to secure the network. Sometimes when I'm on my laptop I'm not even aware that I'm not on my network but on an open neighbors. It's just not something I think tax resources should go to enforcing.

oh come on!! yea you're asking for it if your wifi isnt secured. there are so many other things cops could be doing than catching ppl who steal wifi

you don't secure your wifi, your problem, not mine. i actually got pulled over by two police cars for using free internet once. i was using it from my car outside a coffee shop that had a sign in the window that said "Free wireless internet" it didn't mention that you had to go inside, or that you even had to purchase stuff. turns out they didn't pull me over for using the net...turns out the owner thought i was gonna rob him (it was after hours) but they let me go....

This pisses me off! A man may get 6 months in jail for checking his freaking bank statement while Lindsay Lohan romps free in Hollywood all cracked out? Where is the logic?

Poor guy, to me if you don't secure your wireless connection, you are giving others permission to use it...right?

If people are so angry that others are stealing their wifi, why don't they just enable security? that just sounds like a ridiculous idea

Ok, so if I leave my bike unlocked, leave my camera on the table, leave my whatever wherever without locking it up, I'm "asking for it" and/or giving others permission to use it?????

I mean, I'm on the fence on this one. Yeah, cops have WAY better things to do than go after people that steal wi-fi, and yeah, 6 months in jail is freaking ridiculous. But these kind of arguments are silly at best.

i think it's wrong for law enforcement to decide that it's theft on their own (unlike the coffee shop complaint). i've weighed the risks, and actually decided leave my wifi unlocked so that my roommate and anyone else can have free wifi. i figure if it slows down significantly or i have other problems i can always lock the router later. can policy claim it's theft if no one presses charges (in the US)?

If they have hacked a passworded or secured network, crime. If it's open broadcast, not a crime.

i hope it doesnt become illegal worldwide!

Quite frankly... If you are not smart enough to throw a security password on your Wi-Fi signal to prevent others from using it, you have no reason to complain.

I agree with akosijen, protect your wifi with a password.

don't they have anything better to do with their time than busting people for using wifi that's not secure? seems dumb to me

thats insane. passwords people! otherwise, its up for grabs.

I think that if people don't intend for people to use their Wifi, they should secure it - and be smart enough to or be smart enough to ask someone to do it for them if they were really paranoid (I know my parents wouldn't be able to do it themselves and may not be paranoid because they wouldn't know about it in the first place probably).

I do see the POV that if they unintentionally left it open, maybe it is theft. BUT I don't think people "stealing" WiFi do it long term. They do it when their own secured network isn't working for some reason. At least that's what I do. Then I immediately get back to my own once I get my own working again. ALTHOUGH, people who leave their bikes, etc unlocked do know (at least I assume) the potential consequences of leaving them unlocked. So it should be the same with people with Wifi. I think. haha.

I'm viewing this page right now with stolen wifi. From my bedroom I pick up several unprotected wifi signals. Allowing me to surf the internet without the hassle of a monthly bill. I'll keep doing it until my neighbours smarten up, and hopefully I won't be getting any visits from the cops.

If people don't want there signal to be picked up then they definitely should have a password.

I don't know about US law. But in France your wifi signal doesn't have to be out of your own walls.

Soo if your antenna is too strong it's your fault, not the leaker's one.

If they don't have a password on it, then it's fair game. Besides alot of buisnesses offer it for free anyway, like coffee shops.

i don't see this as a problem at all. there have been times (like at my cousin's house before i left the country and was really sick) when it has saved me so much just having someone's wi-fi access for a few minutes! seriously, this is crazy. all of ubc is wireless so even people who 1) live on campus but don't attend univ. 2) people who wander into campus etc can use the internet for free. i think this is a much bigger issue, really - should information be privatized? i also see it as unfair that wi-fi people have their "stuff" going through the air all over (same goes for cell phone towers for people who don't have cell phones) - kinda like second hand smoke. a bit extreme? i dunno - i mean, i guess it has been disproved that wi-fi waves are harmful. i password protect mine but mainly because it is so bloody expensive for internet here - i don't think i'd care as much back home.

My thought is share and share alike. I have a wireless router , but I decided not to put a password on it and neither have a lot of my neighbors. As long as a person doesn't try to hack into your system, then what's wrong with sharing something!!!

Although, I think the man pulling up his car to use wifi is a big over the line, but jail time...that's just a waste of his time, and tax dollars!!!

Stealing is one thing; I definitely don't think it's right to assume that anyone who doesn't protect their own property is "asking for it" to be used or taken. However, in 99% of internet use, it't not as if people are eating up loads of someone else's bandwidth- I don't consider using someone else's wifi stealing. It seems more similar to a public good, like fireworks - if your neighbor sets them off in their backyard, should you not be allowed to watch them? I mean, sure, if you call all of your friends and family over (or, you know, watch 10 high-resolution streaming videos at once), the yard is going to get pretty overcrowded, but in most cases, your neighbor wouldn't even notice or mind. If they're really against sharing the view, then it's their job to put up a taller fence.

Alright, that was way too long an analogy, but you get the idea.

"I mean if people leave their wireless networks unsecured they're almost asking for it."

I'm going to agree with this. It takes a few quick clicks to secure your network if you're so particular about people stealing your bandwidth. You don't have to be a network guru to do it.

However, if you're a user and you plan on being bandwidth-heavy, it might do to either find a place that offers free wi-fi or save it until you get home.

I for one think internet should just be free in the first place! I also proudly "hack" into any connection my computer can pick up

I'm such a hypocrite- we put a password on our wireless router, but if our internet goes down, then I steal the free wireless from the Whole Foods next door. Honestly, if we didn't have desktops that need wired connections, I don't think we'd pay for the internet at all. Anyway, I hope to eventually see a day when all major cities have free wireless, like San Francisco.

I use my boyfriend's when I am at his house. I guess it's a matter of how the signal is accessed. If it is unprotected (like many of my neighbors), and people are just doing a little surfing then share and share alike, But if someone is sitting outside your house and using your bandwidth to download all types of crazy crap then that's different. Bottom line - if you are worried about it, secure your network and you won't have this problem.

They should just offer free internet for all, like local television!!!

Oh yeah i have wifi and pay a monthly fee, but i lock mine not to be selfish but for security reasons....

It's all the corporate world's fault. They figure if you can get away with using an unsecured network, you aren't *paying* THEM for it. And THAT is why it's getting to be a big deal, in my opinion. Of course you'll run into a few anal types who would, if they had their way, press charges against a wificrime, whether their connection is secured or not. But, like everyone's said, protect your stuff; feed the conglomerates. I leave my wireless open and welcome anyone to use it.

This just goes to show where our priorities are in this country. It's so sad. How many rapists, murderers, drunk drivers, cokeheads and the like go free every day and police are wasting their time catching people using unsecured wireless internet connections. Put a password on your connection if you don't want to share it.

This is ridiculous. It's not even stealing, most of time any flat has a neighbour's wifi into all of the rooms; it's just there. And yeah, if it's not password protected it sort of means that people don't mind if someone else uses it.

Cafes can secure their network, change the password daily, whatever, if they're worried about people stealing it. Same thing with home users. If you get a wireless router, then you can just call their support if you can't figure it out yourself.

The fact is, the unsecure part of it goes both ways. If you're using someone's unsecure network to access personal/financial info, you're leaving yourself at risk for hackers. There are people who go to shops to prove how easy it is to retrieve others' info.

If it's not encrypted or password protected, then it's open to the public, it's pretty much FREE for the taking.

If it's encrypted or password protected (as in you have to sign-in), it's probably not FREE for the taking. Breaking past the passwords is in my mind criminal.