Google-Funded Free Wi-Fi Kiosks Are Scrapping Web Browsing Because Too Many People Were Using it For Porn (businessinsider.com)

Posted by msmash on Wednesday September 14, 2016 @08:10AM from the wi-fi-nazi dept.

This is why New Yorkers can't have nice things. LinkNYC, the initiative to install super-fast wifi hubs in New York City, is suspending web browsing on all its tablets after 8 months due to "inappropriate behavior," the company says, according to a report on BusinessInsider. From the article:Google parent company Alphabet funds LinkNYC through its spinoff Sidewalk Labs. "... Some users have been monopolizing the Link tablets and using them inappropriately, preventing others from being able to use them while frustrating the residents and businesses around them," the company writes in a statement. DNAInfo previously reported that people were using the hubs to watch porn.

1 of 140 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Re:addressing the wrong problem. again. by Koreantoast · 2016-09-14 08:19 · Score: 4, Informative

If you read the article, that's exactly what they're exploring: time limits and other ways to prevent monopolization. The wifi services, free calls, and maps are still enabled. This is just a temporary measure until they come up with a better solution.

LinkNYC says that it's working with city officials to come up with potential solutions, like time limits, so that it can allow users to browse the web once more. In the meantime, people will still be able to use the tablets to make calls and look at maps.