FCC on wifi at hotel

Wed Feb 28 21:28:11 UTC 2007

While the hotel cannot prevent you from using Wi-Fi, but they could:
a) restrict you from attaching equipment to their internet connection
(unless you contracted for that and the contract didn't restrict
attachments) or electrical outlets
b) ask you to leave and charge you for trespassing if you didn't

Its highly unlikely those renting facilities from the hotel would agree to
such onerous restrictions and a hotel renting you the facilities is unlikely
going to boot you out.

See:
http://www.wifinetnews.com/archives/007102.html
for some good coverage on the Massport incident.

Frank

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-nanog at merit.edu [mailto:owner-nanog at merit.edu] On Behalf Of Carl
Karsten
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 2:36 PM
To: nanog at merit.edu
Subject: FCC on wifi at hotel

me again.

So wifi at pycon 07 was 'better than 06' witch I hear was a complete
disaster. 
More on 07's coming soon.

Now we are talking about wifi at pycon 08, which will be at a different
hotel 
(Crown Plaza in Rosemont, IL) and the question came up: Can the hotel
actively 
prevent us from using our own wifi?

_maney: although - wasn't the hotel stuck on "our wifi or no wifi" at last
report?

CarlFK: only the FCC can restrict radio

tpollari: it's their network and their power the FCC has no legal right to
that. 
and no, you show me where they do.  I'm not wasting my day with that tripe
-- 
the caselaw you're likely thinking of has to do with an airline and an
airport 
and the airline's lounge, in which case they're paying for the power and
paying 
for their bandwidth from a provider that's not the airport. We're not.

I know that there are all sorts of factors, and just cuz the FCC says boo
isn't 
the end of the story, but i don't even know what the FCC's position on this
is. 
  google gave me many hits, and after looking at 10 or so I decided to look 
elsewhere.

Carl K