E-Commerce & Cyberlaw: Piggybacking on Wireless Networks

A legal and ethical issue that has evolved because of technology is the practice of "piggybacking" or people tapping onto their neighbors' wireless Internet connection. The original subscriber pas a monthly fee for the service, but without security, people located in the area are able to tap into the wireless network, which bogs down the speed of the service. Once limited to geeks and hackers, the practice is now common among ordinary folk who just want free Internet service.

One college student said, "I don't think it's stealing. I always find people out there...aren't protecting their connection, so I just feel free to go ahead and use it."* According to a recent survey, only about 30 percent of the 4,500 wireless networks onto which the surveyors logged were encrypted, and another survey shows that 32 percent of us do engage in Wi-Fi piggybacking.

An apartment dweller said she leaves her connection wide open because "I'm sticking it to the man. I open up my network, leave it wide open for anyone to jump on." One of the users of another's wireless network said, "I feel sort of bad about it, but I do it anyway. It just seems harmless." She said that if she gets caught, "I'll just play the dumb card."

Some neighbors offer to pay those with wireless service in exchange for their occasional use rather than paying a wireless company for the full-blown service. However, the original subscribers do not really want to run their own Internet service.

• Respond to the following questions by justifying your position:
  1. Do you think we need new legislation to cover this activity?
  2. What do you think of the user's statement?
  3. Is their conduct legal?
  4. Is their conduct ethical?