Marriott Hit With $600k Fine From The FCC For WiFi Blocking

If you have ever travelled and stayed in a hotel and unless you’re lucky enough to find a hotel that provides free WiFi, chances are the rates that are being offered to use the hotel’s WiFi network would be incredibly expensive. Obviously many of us would be hesitant to pay the exorbitant rates, so one alternative is to use our mobile devices as WiFi hotspots.

However it seems that the Marriot hotel in Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee wasn’t too fond of guests using their own hotspots. Instead they used equipment which would boot hotel and convention center guests off their own networks, thus encouraging them to use the hotel’s WiFi instead which is said to cost $250 to $1,000 to access.

Unfortunately for Marriott, the FCC wasn’t too pleased with that as it was considered to be illegal. They have since slapped the hotel with a whopping $600,000 fine for paralyzing guests’ personal WiFi hotspots via tools which basically floods an area with de-authentication packets, thus kicking users off their own networks that they have tethered themselves to.

According to the FCC enforcement bureau’s chief Travis LeBlanc, “It is unacceptable for any hotel to intentionally disable personal hotspots while also charging consumers and small businesses high fees to use the hotel’s own Wi-Fi network. This practice puts consumers in the untenable position of either paying twice for the same service or forgoing internet access altogether.”

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: FCC, Legal