Frugal Ethics 101

[poundwise]

Without going into all that has been written --

Yes, it is unethical to steal bandwidth - and yes, that is what you ought to call it. It does reduce available bandwidth for the neighbor. When you are online listening to streaming audio, he/she will probably wonder why his/her download is taking so long, etc.

The ethical thing to do would be to tell the neighbor (if you know who it is) so that they can secure their network.

In the movie Cinderella Man, which is set in the Great Depression, the title character, James J. Braddock is trying to provide for his family during difficult times. His son, scared about the situation and afraid that he will be sent to live with relatives, takes a salami from a butcher shop. His dad makes him take it back and then has a 'man-to-man' talk with him. The memorable part is, "We don't steal. No matter what, we don't steal."

So you want to save money, good. So you want to be frugal, great. It just depends on what you're willing to do, ethically and morally, to accomplish that goal.

[crabbypatty]

I live by the "If you have to ask...." theory as well.

[kimiko]

It's unethical where your neighboor is concerned, as for the company, absolutely not.

The movie analogy isn't valid, the product you're buying is one seat at a movie. Taking two seats would be unethical. Now if you watch half a movie and then switch place with your friend so he can watch the second half, not a problem. It's still one seat paid for. As for ISP, you're buying up to a maximum amount of bandwidth, or hours for dial up. How you use that bandwidth or hours is entirely up to you. If you choose to share it with someone else and it's not explicitly prohibited by the provider, then there's nothing wrong with it. Like buying a manufactured product and lend it to your friend. Do you think it's unethical whenever you lend your phone to a friend or relative to make a call? If we're going considering ethic against companies for product paid for, then every single day all of us are making some very major unethical decisions.

[threebeansalad]

This logic isn't completely sound, but here's what I'm thinking:

If it truly were in violation, I feel like the telecom companies would make us aware it,. I feel like the practice is common (which doesn't make it right), but given the frequency, if it was WRONG, I just feel the telecom companies would be CERATIN to make sure we're all informed taht it's ethically wrong (like the way we all know it isn't OK to "share" cable TV with a neighbor or download music). I would have expected to seena little glossy insert in my monthly bill telling me to secure the connection and a message out the theives out there stealing my internet.


I guess my take is: talk to your neighbor, if they say it's OK, then go for it.

[JanH]

I haven't reread the whole thread, but I have a couple of questions. If the position was reversed, how would you feel? Would you secure your internet so that no one else could use it? What would you feel about the person using your internet? Also, I would wonder what your son is taking from this. Kids extrapolate all kinds of lessons from things--this I've experienced!
(This may already have been asked and answered, sorry for that. And sorry for sounding so cranky today.)