I'm not stealing your Wi-Fi

I'll try to clarify this from a legal point of view for those that are interested.
The Theft Act 1968 states that it is an offence:- "To dishonestly Appropriate Property belong to another with the intent to permanently deprive them of it"
The police have what are called 'points to prove' before they can charge any person. They must prove all of the following:-
That the actions were DISHONEST
that APPROPRIATION took place (i.e. the alleged offender took on the rights of the rightful owner)
That the item constitutes PROPERTY
That the item BELONGED TO ANOTHER (not the alleged offender)
That there was INTENT TO PERMANENTLY DEPRIVE the rightful owner of the item.

If any one of those criteria is not met then in law there is no offence. There are numerous defences and that the police secure any convictions for theft is frankly a miracle.
Section 13 of the act covers 'non tangible goods' and covers the misuse, waste, unlawful use and divertion of electricity. Under that act anybody that uses a wireless network without permission of the owner does the following. They 'DISHONESTLY APPROPRIATE PROPERTY BELONGING TO ANOTHER WITH THE INTENT TO PERMANENTLY DEPRIVE THEM OF IT'. This is theft, pure and simple. They have not borrowed anything as they cannot return anything.
Anybody doing so are thieves. They are criminals!
The problem is that we all attach our own morality to things and if we don't think it is theft then it isn't! The problem is that we are wrong and it is theft.
I hope that has clarified things for you all.

Doesn't 'borrowing' include some form of consent or permission giving by the owner? Without consent, surely it must be theft, regardless of whether you give it back or not!

The joker...No borrowing is not theft, you're right, but diverting a broadband service is theft. You are not borrowing it are you? If you think you are 'only borrowing' it then please tell me what you are returning to the owner??

it's theft, period, no argument, end of story...

Well there you are Freddie. Borrowing is not theft! I just don't believe anyone would know I highjacked their network for a few minutes anyway.

HA HA HA

Mike... for your information. Your scenario of borrowing somebodies car would work out as follows.
You could not be prosecution for theft for taking the car. You returned it and therefore did not "permanently" deprive the owner of it. The offence commited is specific to motor vehicles and is called 'Taking Without Consent' TWOC for short. It is an arrestable offence under statute law and carries a maximum sentence of 2 years. You would however be guilty of theft of fuel as even though you replaced it you did not do so with the exact same fuel that you used. The fuel that was in the car was not yours to use! You could also argue theft of tyre rubber but as it is impossible to prove it is never considered. The £5 on the seat would not come into consideration. It is totally irrelevant really. The important thing in all this is that it is a 'motor vehicle'. If you did the same with somebodies caravan it would be difficult in law to find a specific offence. The tyre rubber is about all you could claim and as I've already said, is almost impossible to prove. The law is an interesting thing isn't it!

Section 13 of the theft act does not only refer to the electricity being used or wasted. It also refers to it being diverted. If you divert the service from its intended use then it is theft. There is no argument in that fact. I know it is as when I was a police officer I nicked a couple of people and secured convictions for exactly that offence. The problem is that too many people apply their own logic to the law and we all know that "law" and "logic" rarely appear in the same sentence.

I think it's you that need to GET YOUR LAW RIGHT before you call other people ignoramuses!

"Theft is the illegal taking of another person's property. The use of a network is NOT "property". Borrowing is not theft"

The unauthorised use of a service, such as a network, can constitute theft, regardless of whether costs are incurred or not.

So your car is parked outside your house and I help myself without your consent. I bring it back to you in the morning, fuel replaced and a fiver on the seat to cover wear and tear. That's OK then is it? Not a criminal act, even setting aside the insurance concerns?

Using someone else's wifi network is the same as getting on public transport without buying a ticket and using the argument that 'the train was going anyway so one person more makes no difference'. The flaw there is that if everyone did it the revenue to the service provider would drop and the few who paid would end up subsidising those who didn't, who are, to put it simply, thieves and deserve to be treated as such.

That said, I have sometimes at an airport or similar logged onto a free network, and I'm sure most of us do so, but I would not do it systematically from a neighbour.

Ignoramus: computers, their screens, networks, routers etc, etc all consume more or exactly the same amount of energy, whether they are being used or not.

Theft is the illegal taking of another person's property.

The use of a network is NOT "property". Borrowing is not theft.

Kilo Watt Hour....

What a moron you really are!
Nowhere does it say that it is only illegal (stealing is illegal, end of) if a measurable qty is consumed! Thats like saying robbing a bank is ok as long as they dont take too much money!

And as you obviously do not know anything about consumer electronics, how radio waves are generated or the technology behind wireless, here is a very watered down explanation:
To communicate with a wireles network relies on the PC and Router 'talking' to each other. This involves both PC and Router generating and sending radio signals to each other, in the form of 'packets'. The fairies do not generate the power to send these radio waves, so the router must crank up its power requirements to be able to send packets to a connected PC. Take it as read that the more PC's connected to a router, the more power it uses.

Its still stealing, and illegal. For you to defend this implies that you either are a thief, or would be quite happy for others to steal from you!

To "steal" electricity, a measurable quantity of electricity has to be consumed. Barging in on someone's open networked WIFI is consuming no more electricity thatn was being consumed whe none wasn't doing this. No electricity was stolen!

of course it's stealing, your getting a service for free without the isp's permission!