Ethics of sharing an internet connection?

[FIREseeker]

My gracious neighbor lets me use his internet for free. In exchange, he parks his van on my driveway (I bike everywhere so I don't need the space).

The arrangement works very well. No problems at all. No bandwidth issues or anything. If ever the internet breaks - I just text him. However, I'm wondering if this is okay to be doing. I've never read the contract to see if the provider forbids it. Does anyone else do this? Your thoughts on whether it's okay or not?

If not, this is going to be awkward telling my neighbor that what he offered me is unethical.

[greenskeeper]

nothing wrong with that at all. Your neighbor is paying for the service. Heck I even reason that if someone broadcasts an open wireless signal onto my property I have no guilt for using it.

[Tabs]

So long as you do not engage in anything that is illegal (no matter how benign it seems). Otherwise, your neighbor is on the hook for anything bad happening, and of course, it will also point back to you as well. However, that does seem rather obvious doesn't it?

Past that, I don't see any problem with it.

[FLA]

I don't see anything wrong with that.

my friends and I were sharing passwords for Hulu Plus and Netflix, Showtime and HBO GO. It got to be too confusing, people making lists, knocking out the owner's list and I didn't feel quite right about sharing the premium cable channels.

[FIREseeker]

So long as you do not engage in anything that is illegal (no matter how benign it seems). Otherwise, your neighbor is on the hook for anything bad happening, and of course, it will also point back to you as well. However, that does seem rather obvious doesn't it?

Past that, I don't see any problem with it.

What's illegal that doesn't appear to be legal? I can't think of anything that seems benign but isn't. I stopped using pirate bay years ago...

[Tabs]

Hahah yes, well, something like Pirate Bay would be an excellent example. Naturally, I would stay away from all torrents, even the legal ones. Torrent packets will generally show up on ISP radar, as these packet filters don't always know the difference. No need for unnecessary heat, right?

Some questionable sites, especially adult sites, often times contain malware in their pages. Most of this malware are used for tracking purposes, that they may be used for targeted ads, or sold to 3rd party for similar. Once in a while, they actually do contain malicious payloads as well. Sometimes, these payloads are not even delivered by the website itself, but are by the ads the sites are affiliated with. Original website may not even be aware of the ad being loaded with malware. Long story short, I would keep it clean and stay with reputable sites.

A similar example are streaming shows from questionable sources. It's not technically a torrent, and it's not technically a download, but just because it came from Russia, I would avoid it as they are probably done to circumvent legal enforcement of copyrights. In fact, I personally never touch anything that ends in .ru anyways.

Those are just some general examples. I don't know what your surfing habits are like.

[jkovach]

internet

barter and trade is how commerce used to be done

[hamchan]

According to my husband this is against the terms of service with pretty much any internet provider.

[disneysteve]

According to my husband this is against the terms of service with pretty much any internet provider.

True. Your contract is for service in your residence. You don't have the right to share it with others. Ethically/legally they need to get their own service in their homes.

[Outdoorsygal]

My gracious neighbor lets me use his internet for free. In exchange, he parks his van on my driveway (I bike everywhere so I don't need the space).

The arrangement works very well. No problems at all. No bandwidth issues or anything. If ever the internet breaks - I just text him. However, I'm wondering if this is okay to be doing. I've never read the contract to see if the provider forbids it. Does anyone else do this? Your thoughts on whether it's okay or not?

If not, this is going to be awkward telling my neighbor that what he offered me is unethical.

It's a great arrangement, enjoy it. Let it be.

Of course people do that. No biggie. Trust me, your internet company is probably a large enough one they aren't going out of business soon

We did this for a while....our neighbors only paid $5 for internet they used once a week. Because they were offered a package deal so for just $5 more...but now we have our own internet connection