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FCC Fines Smart City $750K For Blocking Wi-Fi
schwit1 writes: FCC's Enforcement Bureau today announced a $750,000 settlement with Smart City Holdings, LLC for blocking consumers' Wi-Fi at various convention centers around the United States. Smart City, an Internet and telecommunications provider for conventions, meeting centers, and hotels, had been blocking personal mobile 'hotspots' that were being used by convention visitors and exhibitors who used their own data plans rather than paying Smart City substantial fees to use the company's Wi-Fi service.
RTFA:
"As part of the settlement, Smart City will cease its Wi-Fi blocking activities"
They signed a court order, if they keep doing it, it's contempt of court this time.
the first fine is a slap on the wrist, but if they continue the next fine will be substantially larger, order of magnitude larger. The FCC might only slap on the wrist for 1st offense, but they get real serious when people don't follow their direct orders.
they signed a settlement agreement in the court room, so further infractions are really "contempt of court" with immediate jail for the offenders
Contempt of court has nothing to do with the FCC. The FCC will still come after the business for the second fine for which they are unlikely to accept any settlement. Also, you can't jail a corporation, only it's officers which is VERY hard to do, just look at the banking fiasco and how few people were jailed over it. This will likely only ever come down to fines and more fines if they repeat until the business loses solvency.
no, your talking criminal contempt, this is civil contempt and the punishment would most likely be commutation of the settlement and liability for court costs. This is against a corporation, not individuals, there's no specific person that is liable and it wasn't a criminal offence.
Jamming is wilful obstruction of communications. It's criminal rather than civil.
Bruce Perens.
If you read the ARS article on this, you would see that:
"In responses to FCC investigators, Smart City later revealed it "automatically transmitted deauthentication frames to prevent Wi-Fi users whose devices produced a received signal strength above a present power level at Smart City access points from establishing or maintaining a Wi-Fi network independent of Smart City's network," according to a consent decree filed in the case."
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!