On Tue, 17 Feb 2004, John Runberg wrote:

> BTW, many ISPs restrict customers from giving away access onto the
> customers node through WiFi or other means. Cox for awhile even tried to
> prevent people from setting up a router so that mulitple computers could
> access from home. Stupid, but true.

Some ISPs also expressly allow this.  I see no moral issue in using an
open access point *if* it's deliberately open.  Someone is still paying
for the bandwidth (the person providing the open node.)  It's up to them
to sort out the legality of it with their ISP -- presumably they have a
copy of the subscriber agreement they signed that states whether or not
they have a right to do what they're doing.

I don't think it's morally right to take advantage of someone who is
unknowingly providing an open node, though, any more than it's morally
right to make phone calls on a neighbor's insecure cordless telephone.

David Brodbeck, N8SRE
'82 Volkswagen Diesel Westfalia
'86 Volvo 240DL wagon