Piracy has come a long way. First there were the Captain Jack Sparrow-esque treasure-seeking pirates. Following the sea-bearing pillagers were land-based train ‘pirates’ of the Wild West such as Jesse James, which decades later gave way to Napster happy music and movie thieves. Now, the newest evolution of the pirate has materialized as a whole new breed of freeloaders: Internet thieves.

The term Internet ‘borrowers’ may be a more apt term. The increasing popularity of tethering has resulted in a surge of online thievery. Tethering may most simplistically be compared to snagging food from the dining hall. You may pay for the basic meal plan up front, but you also stretch your privileges of that meal to liberate bananas, cereal and maybe even bread from Ernie Davis Dining Center. When doing this you have effectively taken more than your allotted share.

In tethering, a smart phone user with a data plan extends the 3G coverage from that plan to act as a modem for their laptop or PDA. This enables users to surf the Web, download files and instant message as quickly as the 3G network can carry the information. The act of tethering can be a significant benefit to its users.

Anywhere a smart phone user can access a 3G network they can get Internet service on their laptop or PDA. Snowed in at grandma’s with just your phone and laptop with a paper due in the morning? It won’t matter that grandma doesn’t even have a computer, not to mention Internet service. Tethering can accomplish data transfers over the river and through the woods, too. Is the Wi-Fi in your building down for some inexplicable reason? Have no fear, you can get back to bidding on that great pair of boots on eBay as soon as your smart phone makes the connection with your computer.

Before I delve into the various tidbits of illegal tethering, it may be handy to note that there are indeed legal ways to go about this practice. All newer models of the BlackBerry and most smart phones are tether-enabled for legal use, except for the iPhone. Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon all offer plans on top of normal data transfer that enables users to pull their 3G network to another device.

Although tethering may be legal, it isn’t ideal. Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon all cap tethering data transfer at 5GB per month and charge approximately $30 on top of the original data plan. AT&T, however, breaks ahead by offering unlimited tethered data transfers. Or, allow me to rephrase: AT&T offers unlimited tethered data transfer for all smart phones except for the iPhone. Flash back to the dining hall scenario: The iPhone is like an empty Ernie Davis. While all of the physical necessities of a dining center are apparent, beyond the utensils and seating there is nothing of substance to be offered. It is only by mischievously breaking into the kitchens that the purpose of the dining hall may be fulfilled.

AT&T won’t even fess up to the fact that the iPhone was created to be tethering-capable, as three consecutive AT&T sales representatives have insisted that the iPhone lacks the ability to tether. In barring legal tethering practices using the iPhone, AT&T has created a breed of Internet pirates born of necessity and not preference. While BlackBerry users who illegally tether may be inherently deviant, illicit iPhone tethering might be the product of obligation. Apple created the iPhone to tether: an intended destiny that has gone unfulfilled. While rumors escaped in 2008 that AT&T would offer tethering plans for the iPhone in 2009, there is no sign of this plan in sight. All hopes of the rumor’s legitimacy have evaporated. When an App was created to tap into the iPhone’s innate desire to share its 3G network, AT&T was quick to put the kibosh on it.

Why all the controversy over allowing tethering on the iPhone? According to School of Information Studies professor Dave Molta, ‘If AT&T were to open up tethering it would add too much stress to their network.’ Considering it took AT&T a lengthy time to offer a simplistic feature like picture messaging on the iPhone due to similar concerns, this is no surprise.

Maybe 2010 will be the year Apple and AT&T can find common ground on sharing the 3G network.

If you find the $30 per month tethering plans a little steep or you happen to own an iPhone, there are certain methods every pirate should know in order to avoid capture (and consequently, big fees and possible contract termination). First and foremost, do not use an Internet browser that is not usable on your smart phone. If you start using Firefox or another browser uncommon on phones, your piracy may be detectable. Second, as tempting as it may be, do not attempt to download any exceedingly large files over tether. If your data transfer rate suddenly spikes, your cell phone service provider could be tipped off to your unlawful ways. A good guideline for this is not to exceed 5GB per month. Keeping those two rules in mind, you should be able to excel in piracy, not that I would ever condone such behavior.

Jessica Smith is a sophomore information technologies management and television, radio and film major. Her column appears every Thursday and she can be reached at jlsmit22@syr.edu.

Published on February 3, 2010 at 12:00 pm