With the proliferation of wireless connectivity comes a disdainful breed of miscreant, the bandwidth leech.
Unlike much of the rest of the planet (and some remote areas of Turkmenistan), broadband is still an expensive commodity here in Australia and as such I would feel mightily aggrieved if some tight-arsed freeloader stole it from me. I would have no problem with sharing my connection if the telcos offered unlimited downloads or at very least, reasonably priced, but they don’t. We have to pay for every web page, e-mail, sound and image that is squeezed down the wire.
If it was free or at best cheap, I would have no real issue with allowing others to benefit while I’m not using it. This is how the concept of wireless community networks became a reality in the nineties. Unfortunately, Aussie bandwidth is not cheap. On a oddly related note, I am not currently using the petrol in my car but this does not give anyone license to siphon my tank.
As connection speeds multiply to cater for the ever increasing need for e-speed, the problem of leeching will doubtless disappear but all the while we pay for the amount of data, irrespective of what speed it arrives, bandwidth leeches should beware of salt; rock salt; actually just rocks.