HUFFINGTON POST: Hotels, beware: Blocking guests’ access to Wi-Fi in order to force them to pay for your own costly Internet service is not a very nice thing to do. And, it turns out, it’s not legal either.
The Federal Communications Commission announced Friday that it was fining Marriott International $600,000 for unlawfully blocking customers’ Wi-Fi access in a conference room at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, which is operated by the company.
According to a statement from the FCC, Marriott workers were using “Wi-Fi blocking technology” called jammers to prevent people at the hotel from using the Internet via their own personal Wi-Fi networks they established with smartphones or mobile Wi-Fi devices. Meanwhile, the hotel was charging $250 to $1,000 per device to connect to its wireless network in its conference facility… (more)
