Hey look! Something that proves the FCC can do the right thing once in a while after all!
Today the Federal Communications Commission ruled against Marriott who had started blocking the wifi signals of personal hotspot devices in it's hotels so that customers would be forced to purchase access from the hotel itself. This isn't the FCC's first step in this fight though, as they fined Marriott $600,000 in October for the same offense. This is just their way of putting a little force behind their words. From the FCC's ruling:
“The Enforcement Bureau has seen a disturbing trend in which hotels and other commercial establishments block wireless consumers from using their own personal Wi-Fi hot spots on the commercial establishment’s premises,” the FCC wrote. “As a result, the Bureau is protecting consumers by aggressively investigating and acting against such unlawful intentional interference.
”Such action is illegal and violations could lead to the assessment of substantial monetary penalties.” ”