MPAA Shuts Down Town's Municipal WiFi Over 1 Download

nam37 writes with this BoingBoing snippet "The MPAA has successfully shut down an entire town's municipal WiFi because a single user was found to be downloading a copyrighted movie. Rather than being embarrassed by this gross example of collective punishment (a practice outlawed in the Geneva conventions) against Coshocton, OH, the MPAA's spokeslizard took the opportunity to cry poor (even though the studios are bringing in record box-office and aftermarket receipts)."

Comments

There must be something more

[transparen]

I find it hard to believe that they would have shut down the Wifi simply because of a *possible* lawsuit.... Maybe they didn't really want the WiFi after all?

Re:There must be something more

[drquoz]

Wow, you have no clue about Coshocton. It's actually a pretty nice town. I've watched it grow a lot over the years, but even back in the day I wouldn't call it a pathetic poor hick town. I'd liken it more to Mayberry than Podunk. BTW, do you have any American flags? Chances are they came from Coshocton's Annin & Co, the nation's oldest and largest flag manufacturer.

Re:Wasn't the MPAA who shut down the network

[TubeSteak]

I RTFA and I can't be the only one who sees a discongruence between "an entire town's municipal WiFi" & "the 300 block".

Re:Wasn't the MPAA who shut down the network

[C10H14N2]

I am going to guess this had something to do with certain officials owing a favor or two to something relating to this:

"This short-range service is entirely separate from the wireless broadband being deployed throughout the county by Lightspeed."

Re:Geneva Conventions

[vekrander]

So the MPAA is clearly then allowed to treat civilians worse than people being occupied in wartime by any country that has signed the Geneva Convention?

Re:Wasn't the MPAA who shut down the network

[tacarat]

That's what the common carrier principle is for. You wouldn't be liable. From a tech standpoint, though, you might want to know what is dragging down the bandwidth in a specific area. It might be indicating a problem other than a heavy file download.

Am I reading correctly?

[Anonymous Coward]

Even worse than the MPAA, I think the most offensive part of this article is that vendors use a completely unsecure wireless network to check status on CREDIT CARD purchases. WTF, mate?

This is Cool!!

[Virtucon]

Make Friends and Influence People Now!

Here's how you do it.

You don't like your neighbor's barking dog? No Problem, just War Drive their WAP and then download movies. Next, send
an "anonymous tip" to the MPAA. Next thing you know, it's a takedown letter and a demand for money. Now they'll have to take
that little dog to the pound because they can't afford the dog food anymore.

I've seen the other comments and one more analogy.. The Roads will need to be torn up because somebody sped down them while fleeing the scene of a crime. We don't know who the criminal was, but he was fleeing.