Sorry, hard to get my point accross while at work with people constantly calling.. (stupid users!). Was meaning to say if you sell it that'd be beyond the line. Stealthing a board I wouldn't consider stealing. .just ballsy. potential for clusterfuck too (as has been seen in the past).
Biggest thing to do: get to know your local sound people! Then no need to stealth a board!
I got your point about stealing. You are right, maybe there are better analogies than theft but I didn't think of one.
I look at it from the perspective that if that guy sneaked into the section and patched into any one of our rigs, some of us would be plenty pissed and at some point the guy might get his ass kicked if he hosed someones rig. The soundboard is even a worse case because it's someone's lively hood that he is putting risk. It also puts our entire scene at risk. One asshole gets caught doing this and then the club decides that no taping equipment is ever allowed in.
I was not there to witness the event, so I will not post the details of the story told to me. However, I know of a venue that banned taping after someone did exactly what this guy is suggesting. Some fucker stealth patched the board and as a result the house tape didn't get recorded. So that was it for taping at that venue and they became hostile toward tapers, regardless of the band's policy.