Should "Web Stumbling" be illegal?

[brandon749]

Ok, I was having a convo with friends at school about this and I'm not sure where I stand on the subject... but before I begin I'll go ahead and inform those of you that don't know what 'net stumbling' is.

What you need to net stumble is a laptop with an 802.11b wireless card. You install this card on your computer then go to a yuppie business section of a town. You know, the places with tons of private businesses in apartment buildings. Usually the people that own these businesses buy wireless networks because they think it is the newest and coolest thing. What they don't know is they are broadcasting their internet all over the airwaves. So you take your laptop to a place like this and turn it on. In some areas of major cities you can 'stumble' onto as many as 15 or 20 wireless networks from one spot. What does this mean? You have a ridiculous connection to the internet. Some people who do this have reported getting up to a true 50 mbps download... meaning a 50 meg file can be downloaded in a second.

The crazy thing is, this is totally legal right now. As they are broadcasting their internet signal, there is no restrictions on the frequencies (meaning they don't own the airwaves) and what would normally be called 'stealing someone else's internet' turns out not to be stealing. So does anyone else think the FCC should crack down on this?

 

[Plexus]

No, if you are stupid enough to leave your wireless network open, then people have the right to use your connection. Simple as that.

 

[The Yankee]

Wow....sure beats up my crappy little 56K.....where do I sign up?

I don't know what the FCC should do....they've been acting so weird this year.

 

[brandon749]

Originally posted by The Yankee
Wow....sure beats up my crappy little 56K.....where do I sign up?

I know, when I heart the 50 meg thing I was shocked. Then I looked on the net and saw that several people reported these speeds. Of course, I could never be a web stumbler because I live in a very small town.

 

[omichyron]

should be legal. it's very simple to keep people off your wireless networks. if you choose not to take any security measures the lost bandwidth is your own damn fault

 

[bobgote]

leave it legal, it's like letting people put a network cable in through a window and connect to your network. It's your responsibility to prevent it happening. as has been said, security is relatively simple.

 

[Turner]

If a business is stupid enough to put unencrypted access out there, then we should be smart enough to tap into it and use it. Bob and Plexus have the right ideas there.

It's like radio broadcasts. If someone, say a police department, puts out unencrypted signals, then you're free to intercept them and listen to them.

 

[Mr Black]

Keep it legal.

And I know just the place, where the yuppie section of town is.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

In downtown Calgary, which is a farely large and modern urban core, all the banks run on wireless networks, meaning you can do a lot of damage from a laptop in a car on the side of the street