The definition of professor depends entirely on the locale and university in question. Your definition, while one of them, is not the only one. Poking around dictionaries and wikipedia will provide other definitions (up to and including anyone that happens to teach at a college/university).

I would hope there was a bit more to it than that, because then one person stealing another's code would cause the person that didn't do anything wrong to fail.

If your front end page code is doing enough that speed is an issue, there's good odds that your front end page code is doing too much.

It is more like running a splitter and a cable and stealing your neighbors cable TV. Or running an extension cord to a backyard outlet and stealing power. Or perhaps a cordless phone. People accept that they have to pay for electricity, phone, but the internet should be free? why?

If you want to compare it to using someone else's power, I'd say it's more like finding a power outlet in a public place with a big label on it "For Public Use... You May Use This". If you don't secure your wireless network, then that is what you are setting up. Someone comes along, picks up your signal, follows the standard process of asking the router if they're allowed to use it, and the router tells them they are. You chose not to take the "For Public Use" sign off your signal...