this post was submitted on 30 Dec 2023
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And not to mention liability issues if you share a network like that with neighbors. If they start doing illegal stuff while connected to your router, you are on the hook for it.
Who needs a VPN when I can just use my neighbor's hotspot to torrent and let them get the DMCA notices!
No, that possibility is why you're not on the hook for it. An ip address is not enough to prove what person did it.
https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/wi-fi-network-criminal-liability.html#what-happens-if-someone-engages-in-illegal-activity-using-my-wi-fi-connection
If you knowingly share your connection with someone else and then they go on to do illegal activities with it, you can be held liable.
That article doesn't actually cite any legal precedent for someone being held liable, just a case in 2011 where the guy was found not guilty. It just says you could possibly be liable.
It would be like charging the ISP because someone did illegal stuff.
I have to imagine that on routers where the ISP offers a parallel portal through your gear, they isolate the other user's traffic from your home network and will trace any illegal activity back to that particular subscriber.
Granted, this is probably a good reason to ditch your ISPs hardware and use your own where you can. Even AT&Ts gear can be set up in bridge mode to where it acts as simply a modem for your own hardware. Like hell if I want random people posted up outside my house to use the internet.