The Wifi Slugfest Over Portland's PGE Park

tomwhore writes "Portland's community wireless networking group, Personal Telco Project (PTP), recently knocked one into the ball park with a new WiFi node. The new node covers the area around and inside of Portland's PGE Ballpark. While free internet access would be welcome by most, PGE Park managers are not happy. They recently cut a deal giving Comcast exclusive rights to do up their networking. 'This is our stadium, and we run the communications for it,' said Chris Metz, a PGE Park spokesman. To find out more about the impact of the PTPs latest home run check out this article in the Oregonian and over at the PTP's website." Let's hope the park also puts a Faraday cage around the whole park to ensure radio silence.

Comments

A portland resident speaks...

[Cuchullain]

This is great!

I imagine that this is not actually related to comcast, as the article implies, but rather to the fact that portland is currently trying to get a major league team into the stadium.

The reason I think this might be a problem, is that major league teams have been shying away from portland because of its reputation as a place with high taxes and ultra-left wing views. Major league baseball is just another huge corporate entity, and these kinds of tweaks are exactly what they are afraid of. The portland city government, and pge park don't want the perception that they are out of control, as it will negatively impact MLB's view of Portland.

So I say- GO For it free wireless guys! I don't want to see my taxes raised again for a useless baseball team. Especially when unemployment is almost 10% and our taxes are increasing already!

Cuchullain

In something we trust.

[American AC in Paris]

And such is the state of our society that a free service, dropped into one's lap, is cause for consternation.

We have become such slaves to the dollar that the very specter of affront to a sponsor or corporate backer is reason enough to go after a free, community-driven service.

This isn't about Comcast; this isn't about PGE Park's management. Rather, they're just placeholders for the larger problem. This is about the slow, gentle, comfortable erosion of American values--not the God, family, and apple pie values of tradition, but independence, community, and the common good values of the human spirit.

This is not liberty. This is not happiness. This is voluntary bondage to the almighty dollar. I'm not one to get all uppity about this kind of thing--I'm generally pretty laissez-faire--but it's sad to see this kind of thing. Why, oh why, does my country care more about a dollar than anything else?

Oh for heavens sake ....

[taniwha]

it's an article about a baseball park - "slugfest" is a totally appropriate term - there about 100 years of newspaper subeditors writing headlines with these sorts of punish content - why should electronic media be any different?

Re:That's not gay, that's terrorism

[falcon5768]

Interesting granted the hospital near my house has JUST SUCH A DEVICE, to block cellphone transmitions from entering the hospital. Dont ask me how, cause they refuse to tell me or let me see this device, but sure enough anytime I drive by on my way to the parkway the cellphone cuts out right at the hospital when I had a full signal 2 feet in front of and beyond the area.

and yes this is some sort of device, there are signs saying that cellphone signals are blocked all over the hospital.

PGE Management Assholes

[Wyatt Earp]

I'm sorry but the morons that run PGE Park are idiots.

And besides, the city of Portland owns the Park and the group that runs the stadium for the city owes them back rent.

In my mind, since they don't own the stadium, they shouldn't be bitching. It's not like this is going to damage thier hold on the lease. They are doing that without any Wi-Fi signals coming across the fence without Comcast's permission.

Cheating?

[4/3PI*R^3]

There's the story of George Stallings of the NY Yankees. Stallings, rented an apartment across from Yankee Stadium that had a clear view of the catcher. A person sitting in this apartment could see the signals the catcher was giving, call the dugout of the Yankee's and tell the manager what the signal was. The manager could then signal the batter as to what pitch to expect. He then converted this whole process behind a whiskey advertisement that was not as susceptible to cloudy days. These guys were really imaginative and resourcefull with the technology (or lack there of) of the day.

Now fast forward to 2003 with WiFi in ball parks. Imagine not one spotter but 10, or 20, or 30 spotters scattered around the stands all with a laptop and all simultaneously keying in the catcher's signs.

As opposed to what happened to Stallings, I don't think this is cheating. I think anybody who can hit a 90+MPH fast ball deserves to use any means necessary to accomplish this. At least with a WiFi network the visiting team could also place some spotters in the stand.

PGE Park has bigger problems...

[Beek Dog]

First off, PGE is owned by Enron. Portland wants to buy it, but Enron wants to dissect it and sell the assets to pay off debts, and have rate-payers help with the debt. OK, not exactly, but something like that. Second, nobody wants to own PGE Park. It's not profitable. Our weeklies usually have a least one article a month about some poor, old, rich bastard who can't pay the City of Portland for rent. Third, PGE Park lost power not too long ago. This is the park with Portland General Electric in the name! They can't even keep their own power on! Blocking Wi-Fi? It's probably science fiction to them. I agree with a previous poster, this is no slugfest. This is a bloated 600-pound gorilla complaining about someone else's scent covering their foul odor... BTW, Portland itself kicks major yahoo.

Not So Subtle Issues Here

[ewhac]

This could actually become a very messy issue.

Assuming very low contention, you can videocast over an 802.11b link. Some guy brings in his shiny new Sony VAIO PCG-TR1A with built-in camera and 802.11b, and starts broadcasting the game from his seat in the stadium. (Yeah, it'll suck, but that won't matter, as we shall shortly see.)

This will piss off a number of people:

• Major League Baseball (TM)(R)(C)(BFD), who claim copyright to the "performance" embodied by the baseball game, and assert exclusive rights to control all access to those "performances",
• The local and national television network, who have cut an "exclusive" broadcasting contract with MLB and the stadium,
• The stadium owner whose television blackout radius of 10 miles (negotiated "exclusively" with the television network) is being violated by the smartass in Section 12, seat 13-E, thereby undercutting attendance revenues.

They've built for themselves a cozy little relationship that doesn't involve competition or, indeed, people thinking for themselves at all (sit down, shut up, buy the $6.50 hot dogs, oh, and enjoy the game). Expect shrill whining from Entrenched Interests the moment they even suspect anything like this might happen.

Schwab