Uhm, I don't know if somebody has said this already, but how is this illegal? The power is already running into your home, you are just having to do a little work to access it.
It's illegal because it is stealing the electricity. You pay the phone company for their service on a per call basis not on power used, so any power used is not accounted for, so using the power on the phone line like this is theft plain and simple. You may think it is a trivial amount, just a few watts here and there, but in a country of 300,000,000 it can soon add up. If you were to put a meter on it and pay the phone company for the power at the going rate, it would probably still be illegal but you might get away with it.
Dave, I really don't think you can just assume that it is illegal. That power is coming into your home, and you never signed any contract with the phone company saying you can only use that power with corded phones. Remember, you are innocent until proven guilty, and I think it would be impossible for the phone company to prove that you knew it was somehow illegal.
Leeching power from the phone line seems to me the equivalent of getting a company car you can only use for work, and siphoning the gas out of the tank to put in your lawnmower.
But just food for thought, can I leech power out of the cable TV wire?
Except it is understood that a company car can only be used for work, while there is no similar understanding when you sign a lease, rental agreement, or buy a house.
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Uhm, I don't know if somebody has said this already, but how is this illegal? The power is already running into your home, you are just having to do a little work to access it.
It's illegal because it is stealing the electricity. You pay the phone company for their service on a per call basis not on power used, so any power used is not accounted for, so using the power on the phone line like this is theft plain and simple.
You may think it is a trivial amount, just a few watts here and there, but in a country of 300,000,000 it can soon add up.
If you were to put a meter on it and pay the phone company for the power at the going rate, it would probably still be illegal but you might get away with it.
Dave, I really don't think you can just assume that it is illegal. That power is coming into your home, and you never signed any contract with the phone company saying you can only use that power with corded phones. Remember, you are innocent until proven guilty, and I think it would be impossible for the phone company to prove that you knew it was somehow illegal.
Leeching power from the phone line seems to me the equivalent of getting a company car you can only use for work, and siphoning the gas out of the tank to put in your lawnmower.
But just food for thought, can I leech power out of the cable TV wire?
Except it is understood that a company car can only be used for work, while there is no similar understanding when you sign a lease, rental agreement, or buy a house.