My new computer automatically picks up wireless networks to gain access to the internet; including that belonging to a neighbour. This adds nothing to my neighbour’s costs, and I’m not downloading anything (and, so, not using up any potential limits). Is it ethical for me to continue using this?
It’s not simply that it is not internet etiquette to piggyback on a neighbour’s wireless connection; or that you’re depriving your neighbour’s broadband provider from earning revenue from you, were you to open your own personal internet account; or that spongeing off your neighbour’s net connection is similar to making copies of all new CDs that your friends buy without ever returning the favour. It’s that records exist in cyberspace of every website visited by you or by your neighbour, and of every e-mail that you or your neighbour sends.
How does the web do this? Only three people in the world know for certain, and it’s very likely they live in Bangalore and can be contacted only via a premium-rate telephone line that welcomes you with the traditional computer helpline greeting of “You are held in a queue and will be answered shortly. Your position in the queue is number... 4,972. At the current call-charge rate, you might find it cheaper to purchase a new computer than to keep holding”.
So, if someone using that shared internet connection visits a dodgy website, the authorities might be able to trace it back and expose you. It will be embarrassing enough for your neighbour to realise that you now know that he visits those porn sites where you have to swivel your head sideways even to discern who is doing what to whom. But how much more embarrassing will it be if your neighbour finds out that you’re a regular visitor to Mick Hucknall’s fan site?
WHAT’S YOUR VIEW? AND DO YOU HAVE A DILEMMA OF YOUR OWN?
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