Using Another's Wi-Fi Surreptitiously

Here's the scenario. A is an internet service provider (ISP) supplying an internet connection to B, who accesses the connection via a wi-fi hotspot he has set up. B pays something like $50 for unlimited usage. A has lots of subscribers like B and the less such subscribers use the connection the more money A makes. Then C comes along and surreptitiously uses B's wi-fi to connect to the internet via A's connection.

Is this stealing?

If you look just at B and C, the answer is most likely no. B has unlimited usage, so incurs no extra monetary costs. The only situation where this would be costly to B is where there's competition for the limited bandwidth. The costs would be time rather than a direct monetary loss, such as a slowing down of the network connection or a complete exclusion from the network if C is using all of the bandwidth.

So there's a dichotomy in the B-C relationship. If C uses enough of the bandwidth, it'd be comparable to C tapping into B's traditional phone line. While C is using it, B couldn't use it and would thus need to wait until C was done. Although phones are absolute (there's no slowing down of the phone call), there's still not much of an argument that it's not stealing.

On the other hand, if B has no idea that C's using it, then it's much like a good old transistor radio in the B's front yard. C, sitting next door in his front yard and listening to the music, could do so all he wants even if C did not want him to or was unaware that he was listening. Ignoring contractual obligations between A and B to the contrary, it's hard to say that something is stolen when it's provided publicly.

However, when the relationship between A and C is looked at, it's more clear that this is in fact stealing. Let's say that A has 100,000 customers like B, the average cost per customer is $30 before people like C come along and $31 after people like C come along. A will end up with this:

	Before C	After C
Gross Revenue	Total Costs	Net Revenue
$500,000	$300,000	$200,000
$500,000	$310,000	$190,000

So these customers like C, by using the bandwidth, have driven up the costs per customer and cost A $10,000. While these numbers are completely fabricated, there will be some loss for A. And A, as the ISP, will ultimately have to transfer this cost to B in some form. Even if the ultimate costs to A and B are small, stealing a little is still stealing.

So I'll conclude that using an unprotected wi-fi network without permission is stealing. However, I'll also say that if the Bs of the world don't want others to use their network, they should protect it. You wouldn't leave dollars bills on your front lawn would you? At the same time, I'd hope that people would actually be willing to share their wi-fi networks (notwithstanding A-B contracts), provided their experience isn't negatively effected by the use of others.