Taking something that you don't own without permission is stealing. That is the bottom line. It has nothing to with what it is, or what form it is. Go into VZW and tell them what you are doing (didn't you say you don't condone theft earlier?) Tell them ?I am not stealing your tether service, I am just merely circumventing your TOS and doing it behind your back, so that is not stealing.? News flash, it is and always will be theft of services, no matter the form K.
Um...I don't tether. Legally or illegally - I've never had the need. I said earlier (go reread my posts if you want) that I don't condone violating your contract. My point is that this isn't a criminal offense, it's a contractual one. My explicit point is that even though it's not stealing (and it isn't) it still isn't ok. So you seem to be either confusing me with other participants in this discussion, or you just let your preconceived notions get the best of you. At the least, I understand where your tone came from now, and to that effect I'll apologize for having not realized sooner that we were talking past each other.
So, tl;dr of my posts: If you violate the ToS, you are breaking your contract with Verizon and they have every right to boot you. That doesn't mean it meets the technical definition of "stealing". If you want to share your personal views on the ethics behind it that's fine (and you and I probably mostly agree), but stealing is a legal distinction.
You can break it down to whatever form you want, but I assure you, when you say stealing services from a cell phone provider is different than stealing music, cable, or movies, sounds sounds ludicrous to me sir
That's my point; it's not stealing, it's a violation of contract. You may think it's ludicrous, but there are real-world consequences to these distinctions.
Perhaps here's an easier example: If you sign up for Facebook you agree to a ToS also. It includes a bunch of things, many of which are related to behavior (for example you can't threaten real world violence on Facebook). Others are directly related to money (you can only use Facebook APIs to enrich yourself in certain ways). Violating any of these is justification for Facebook to revoke your permission to use their service, and they do all the time. But it's NOT theft, it's a contractual violation (and it IS a contract).
Using software that is explicitly not allowed (including tethering with non-Verizon programs) falls into the same legal realm. Engaging in a service and then using the service in a way that is not permitted by the terms of your agreement is a civil infraction, not a criminal one. The offending party can be punished via litigation (if the other party deems it worthwhile), or by simply billing the offending party according to terms also in the agreement (this is the usual route taken by companies with individual customers). I won't get into it here, but this becomes an even more important distinction when dealing with consumer ownership rights and DRM.
None of that is in any way a moral statement of support nor condemnation on my part, it's just the facts of the situation.
Scott, If you can tell me that you have told VZW about your free tether, and let them know you will continue to do so, then you can tell me it isn't theft. As long as you do so without their knowledge, it is fine, until then, using it without their knowledge is theft, it is stealing everyday from Sunday to Saturday, in every sense of the word. You have failed to convince me that it should be looked at differently.
This just reinforces to me that you are still trying to equate your ethical outlook (which again, I don't disagree with) to the legal definition. Stealing is stealing whether you tell the victim or not. A bank robber generally informs the teller that he is going to steal the cash being brought to him, but that doesn't make it any less stealing than a person who sneaks into the bank without anyone's knowledge.
I appreciate that you think tethering is wrong; I agree. While Verizon enganges in many anti-consumer practices, that doesn't mean the correct response is to simply violate the contract you signed with them. People who have chosen to use root to violate their contracts and dodge Verizon's revenue increasing devices are the reason why Verizon (and other carriers) are now trying to hard to crack down on everyone who wishes to root and mod their device, even though there are dozens of other purposes to doing so which do not violate their ToS. Had the OP titled the discussion "Is it immoral?" then we'd probably be on the same side. Since the thread (and poll) is about stealing, I can't sit by and allow the term to be hijacked in a way that is inaccurate, even if it's being done with good intent.
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