Winter Wi-fi Woes: Is it “stealing?” Should it be open?

Earlier this month (Jan 3.), Ars Technica ran an article on the ethics of “stealing” wi-fi. Think Christian covered it a day later with some insightful comments below it. Continuing the theme, Bruce Schneier has written an article for Wired on the ethics of running an open wi-fi access point and Cory Doctorow offered commentary on bOING bOING.

Once the language of stealing comes in, the questions of ethics and morality show up. Wherever there’s a moral question, Christians (for better or for worse) way in on the issue. Getting away from the question of stealing though, wireless networking depends on the airwaves, a natural and completely public resource. Further, in the US especially, Internet access is being treated more and more as an essential utility, like water, heat and phones. Thinking of wireless networking is not yet ready to be treated as a natural resource, but it’s getting close.

Here’s a summary of the action and some of my own commentary.

1. Midwinter attention to wifi
   1. Ars Technica
      1. “It’s time to put an end to this silliness. Using an open WiFi network is no more “stealing” than is listening to the radio or watching TV using the old rabbit ears. If the WiFi waves come to you and can be accessed without hacking, there should be no question that such access is legal and morally OK.”
      2. I would be remiss in not pointing out that the article references a clergyman who is opening up his access point and supporting open source!
   2. Think Christian
      1. “It’s not a life or death moral quandry.” Perhaps not life or death, but in light of a “digital divide,” should people with wireless access feel responsible for sharing it with those who don’t?
      2. One commentor asks, “Is it okay to go into someone’s house and watch their TV if they leave their doors unlocked?” My analogy would be closer to asking if it’s OK that, from my chair here, I can see the TV in the window (no curtains) in the house across the street. The light (or wi-fi) waves are just spilling out of the house into public space.
      3. Generally, most comments on Think Christian advocate for leaving access points open and for using them when they are found open. A small minority wants to shout, “Thou shalt not steal.” A final wise comment refers to 1 Cor. 8 and to letting your conscience be your guide.
   3. Wired
      1. Bruce is open and unencrypted: “To me, it’s basic politeness. Providing internet access to guests is kind of like providing heat and electricity, or a hot cup of tea. But to some observers, it’s both wrong and dangerous.” The parallel of the cold cup of water in Matthew 25 is an appropriate parallel.
      2. “Running an open wireless network will often violate your terms of service.” In a sense it’s a form of civil disobedience: violate the TOS for the sake of a greater public good.
      3. He mentions Fon, which allows an access point that is secure for you, but open and unencrypted for others. Ethical behavior and personal security don’t have to be tradeoffs.
   4. Cory Doctorow
      1. “I’ve never encountered the problems that everyone says are inevitable — network contention, crap from my ISP, busts for the child-porn my neighbors are downloading from my network.” Just do it: the problems aren’t really problems.
      2. “I can’t count the number of times I’ve had my ass saved by an open wireless network at the right moment.” Surprisingly missing from the above conversations: personal testimony as to why this is good.
2. My thoughts
   1. Most of the analogies made are to radio or TV airwaves, light or water. These are all natural resources. Being natural resources, they are rightly shared in common. Hoarding water or jamming airwaves is criminal, not the reverse. As time goes on, we will appreciate the wireless networking in the sense of natural resources and, as a result, natural law should apply.
   2. As a natural and public resource, it’s good to see municipal networks taking some leadership. Churches also are called to steward natural resources, so we have responsibility to open up our networks.
   3. St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Goffstown, NH has its wireless open to the public. The priest there reports that during traffic rush hours, people routinely stop in their parking lot to check email. Might as well wait out the traffic! It’s a form of community outreach.
   4. Grace Episcopal Church in Concord, NH (where I work) has its wi-fi secured, but I’m starting to reconsider. At present we post the WEP key in the parish hall. Community groups and other church committees meet there, so folks using the building can see it prominently posted and are invited to use it.
   5. I’ve been reading Bruce Sterling’s The Hacker Crackdown lately. In relating the story of the phone phreaks, he asks rhetorically (italics his), “If you’re not damaging the system, and you’re not using up any tangible resource, and if nobody finds out what you did, then what real harm have you done? What exactly have you ’stolen,’ anyway? If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, how much is the noise worth? Even now this remains a rather dicey question.”
      1. It was a dicey question in 1992 and is no less so in 2008.
      2. Concerning phone phreaks, there was at least a misguided criminal concern. Why create one here? This is a new medium and new territory–we should not need to invent new crimes and invent new criminals.
   6. There’s a seafaring adage that you should always help another ship in distress, because you never know when you yourself may be in the same situation. Isn’t this a good parable for open wireless networks? Always leave your wifi open, because you never know when you might also need open wifi?