IP Democracy: Stop Wireless Thief!

Michel Marriott has this longish piece in tomorrow’s New York Times about the prevalence of Wi-Fi piggybacking. Why so much ink over a trend that is by now way-old?

The idea of taking a free ride on somebody else’s unencrypted Wi-Fi network is a firmly entrenched concept. But, as the article points out, most people still don’t even bother to encrypt their home networks, opening up all kinds of potential problems, including connection congestion and theft of data from wide-open PCs.

While most of those users are either totally trusting or lazy or uninformed about the dangers of unsecured home Wi-Fi networks, the article points out yet another reason some folks keep their networks open — they want to “stick it to the man.”

Some users say they have protected their computers but have decided to keep their networks open as a passive protest of what they consider the exorbitant cost of Internet access. “I’m sticking it to the man,” said Elaine Ball, an Internet subscriber who lives in Chicago. She complained that she paid $65 a month for Internet access until she recently switched to a $20-a-month promotion plan that would go up to $45 a month after the first three months. “I open up my network, leave it wide open for anyone to jump on,” Ms. Ball said.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on March 4, 2006 7:11 PM to IP Democracy