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I think the questionable behavior that concerns most people are when people cruise through neighborhoods using people's personal unprotected WIFI networks. This may not necessarily be illegal, but it may be considered unethical. I would not appreciate someone using my personal WIFI network, but then I have encrypted it to discourage casual users from doing this.
Most businesses have their WIFI networks secured - your IPAQ may detect a network, but you won't be able to access the network unless you have some kind of encryption code or login. When I am at a business (like a mechanic's or a coffeehouse) I may check to see if there is a WIFI signal. If the WIFI is wide open, I generally assume that the WIFI there is free and surf without feeling like I am violating anything - I recently did this at an outpatient center while waiting for my friend to get out of surgery.
Many retail places, such as coffee houses, bookstores, grocery stores, even airports, etc. offer WIFI. In some cases WIFI is free while in other cases you have to subscribe to a monthly service through, for lack of a better term, a WIFI services company. The WIFI services company has established a relationship with several different retail entities to provide WIFI services in their stores. You subscribe to the service and you can access the internet anywhere you go where this WIFI service company provides service. When I am in retail or public places I may check to see if there is a WIFI signal. If there is and it is unsecured, I will access the internet with no concern about whether I am doing anything wrong. I believe if the WIFI is there, that the retail place is providing it as a service to their customers.
Some cities and municipalities have installed free WIFI services for their citizens. If I were in a city that provided this type of service, I would use it with no concern about whether or not I am doing anything wrong.
I do not subscribe to any WIFI service at this time. If I traveled extensively, I probably would since not many airports provide free WIFI and most of the coffee houses & bookstores that I would go to do not provide free WIFI. However, I have found that many hotels do provide free WIFI to their customers, so I would make it a point to stay at hotels that provide this service. Even so, there are places where you're just not going to get WIFI and that's when having a data plan through a cellular provider is handy.
Oh, and some of those cards you see people inserting in their computers may not be WIFI cards at all. They could be inserting a GPRS card in their computer to gain access using the data plan they subscribe to through their cellular provider.
Julie
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