Marriott Fined $600,000 For Jamming Guest Hotspots

schwit1 writes: Marriott will cough up $600,000 in penalties after being caught blocking mobile hotspots so that guests would have to pay for its own Wi-Fi services, the FCC has confirmed today. The fine comes after staff at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee were found to be jamming individual hotspots and then charging people up to $1,000 per device to get online. Marriott has been operating the center since 2012, and is believed to have been running its interruption scheme since then. The first complaint to the FCC, however, wasn't until March 2013, when one guest warned the Commission that they suspected their hardware had been jammed.

Comments

Their interest not yours...

[bl968]

The Opryland Hotel blocks customers wifi at conventions hosted in the hotel since they sell their own service. Here's their statement from Jeff Flaherty, a Marriott spokesman...

"Marriott has a $trong intere$t in en$uring that when our gue$t$ use our Wi-Fi $ervice, they will be protected from rogue wirele$$ hot$pot$ that can cau$e degraded $ervice, insidious cyber-attacks and identity theft."

Dollar signs added for emphasis. That hotel sells dedicated wireless services and custom networks for convention purposes at prices ranging from $250 to $1,000 per access point.

But remember it's all about protecting you! Any time someone says they are doing something for your protection remember it's most likely to further their own interests and not yours.