Ars Technica has an interesting article titled “The ethics of ’stealing’ a WiFi connection.” The article doesn’t concern itself with the ethics of hacking into a WiFi connection but only with the ethics of using a WiFi connection that is open (i.e., no security implemented). This has always been a tricky subject and one that will ultimately need to be decided on the national level. As of this writing, pertinent laws have only been implemented in select areas.

Although I think it is always good to err on the side of caution and ensure that you have permission to use an open WiFi hotspot, Ars Technica presents a compelling case that using a open WiFi connection should be perfectly ethical in some cases. One of the more interesting arguments provided is that no one would consider it wrong if your neighbor provided a key to their house and offered to let you come in to use their computer and Internet access whenever you wanted. The above argument by Ars Technica addresses the concern that some people have that providing an open (i.e., free) access point deprives Internet Service Providers (ISPs) of revenue.

Nonetheless, the article is not totally one sided. It brings up the point that using someone’s access point without permission to download large files could impair their bandwidth and connection speed which everyone should agree is not very ethical.

Rather than to keep writing about the contents of the article, you should just go read it for yourself. I do think it sparks some interesting ethical considerations which need to be addressed by every increasing wireless world in which we now live.