I recently found out on Ars Technica that "piggybacking", or using someone's open Wi-Fi network without their permission or even knowledge, is actually considered illegal in certain jurisdictions. PDAs have long had Wi-Fi built in, and more smartphones are startingto integrate the feature. As that happens, you can expect more instances of piggybacking to occur, since smartphones and PDAs are definitely much more portable than laptops.

Of course, it's irritating when freeloaders slow down your connection. But it's still silly to criminalize piggybacking, which at its essence, is taking advantage of something that's open for public use. The analogy of Ars Technica is effective:

"If the man in question were given a key and told that he could enter his neighbor's house whenever he wanted to use a PC to access the Internet, would this be wrong? Of course not."

wireless router manufacturers knew that, by default, your Wi-Fi signal would reach far and even penetrate through walls. And since intentionally limiting their products' capabilities makes no sense, they decided to take the time to integrate security features into their products.

To owners of wireless networks, if you don't want anyone, including owners of smartphones and PDAs, from mooching of your Wi-Fi, make an effort to secure your network from unauthorized access.