Reply #85: The phone is unlikely, and different. [View All]

[VTMechEngr]

The point, and I hope a court rules this way, is that you the router user, are responsible for securing your network from others logging on. I'm almost 25, and for all of my adult life, this has happened all over and never been illegal or punished. I never had a wireless card to do this as I'm a believer in hardwire ethernet, but I cannot see this becoming illegal. It has always been unethical, but the rule was the router owner was responsible for what others did on their provided network.

All my life, the fix was not the police or courts, but a helpful friend like me to lock the MAC addresses to only the router owner's computers. I actually hope that one day all a city is one big hotspot.

You openly broadcast an internet connection that does not require any effort to log on. By hitting the power button on a Dell Laptop, Windows XP finds a network, and immediately, Norton antivirus starts getting its update. Can theft be such a simple act as hitting the power button on a standard piece of home equipment?

This would not be an issue if Retail stores had not been so quick to sell wireless routers to people who were clueless.