Am I WiFi?

[growler_south]

The survey below led me to wonder about my morality regarding unsecured wireless access points. Basically, if I'm out and about, I'll let my PDA connect to anything it finds (unsecured access points, mostly) to check my email. Blatant bandwidth theft, even if the bandwidth it steals is so miniscule it blends into the background noise of junkmail and pop-up adverts.

I guess thats just the sort of person I am: I'll drive through a carpark to get to a nearby street. I'll step inside an airconditioned store to cool down without intending to purchase anything. I'll take a drink from a tap on the side of a house. I'll eat fruit hanging from a branch over the sidewalk. However, I'd drive calmly and sensibly through the carpark, would prefer a shop I *had* bought stuff from before, wouldnt wash my car using that same unsecured tap, and I wouldnt take more than one piece of fruit. I guess I apply my own standards of generosity: if I'd let someone do something without hesitation, then I figure its ok for me to do it.

Click here to take the Wi-Fi survey

Comments

[smellykaka.livejournal.com]

Personally I wish the term 'Wi-fi' would be taken out and shot.

That aside, I pinched bandwidth once to check the Ashes scores at a traffic light, just 'cos I could. But I don't make a habit of it.

Flatmates and I have idly considered setting up a mildly-throttled free-for-all base station (we have three, only two of which are presently in use) for people to use.

[growler-south.livejournal.com]

Agreed.. though it's amusing to hear it mispronounced 'Wifey' and 'Whiffy' when it's based on 'Hi-Fi' (though it has absolutely nothing in common, in practise or principle, with Hi-Fi)

You may find that your ISP's terms of use forbid you sharing the connection- though how sharing with someone on the street is different to sharing with your flatmate is a little murky.

[smellykaka.livejournal.com]

To you the 'wifey' pronunciation must be particularly comical.

Fuck the ISP. If they don't want me sharing with someone on the street, they should give me instructions for securing my base station. ;)

[afr-gc.livejournal.com]

There could always secure their access points if they wanted to. Ultimately, as long as your not using the free connection to download heaps of mp3s, porn and feature length movies, I think its not so bad...

[furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com]

I take this perspective - if people are going to use a technology and not be bothered to learn enough about it to use it responsibly (i.e., securing an access point if they don't want it used by random people) then they pretty much deserve what they get.

It's like if someone just "couldn't be bothered" to learn how those newfangled things called "locks" and "deadbolts" work, and yet are shocked to discover that people have been coming in and using the toilet in their home. Or maybe it's more like all the people who have VCR's flashing "12:00"... anyway.

I realize that computers and networking is not a simple subject, and that there's a lot of jargon, acronyms and so on. But if someone is going to use them, they have to learn a few things. We don't think of it in these terms because a lot of the knowledge is so basic in our cultures, but imagine if someone knew nothing about cars - except that he/she wanted to use one - but kept insisting "I don't want to have to learn all this technical crap about 'gasoline' and 'ignition keys' and so on! I just want to drive!" We'd think that person pretty much a loon, wanting to use something like a car without being willing to learn anything about it.