<story><title>FCC Fines Smart City $750K for Blocking Wi-Fi</title><url>https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-fines-smart-city-750k-blocking-wi-fi-0</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>notacoward</author><text>Here is Smart City&amp;#x27;s response.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;apps.fcc.gov&amp;#x2F;ecfs&amp;#x2F;document&amp;#x2F;view?id=60001011936&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;apps.fcc.gov&amp;#x2F;ecfs&amp;#x2F;document&amp;#x2F;view?id=60001011936&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Among other interesting points is that they seem to have been using the same &amp;quot;de-authentication&amp;quot; trick that Marriott had used in a similar case a while ago.  Also, they make an argument about density and interference that IMO shouldn&amp;#x27;t be dismissed out of hand.  I still think they were wrong and deserved the fine, but it&amp;#x27;s worth keeping in mind that mobile hotspots can fall afoul of the very same principle and law behind that fine.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Someone1234</author><text>&amp;gt; For instance, in those cases in which Smart City has used de-authentication in the past, it targeted only access points and wireless devices that are located within the confined and proprietary space of the exhibit hall -- areas of a convention center that are licensed for private event and to which access is limited -- and that pose a threat to secure, reliable, WiFi availability within that confined space.&lt;p&gt;That&amp;#x27;s not how WiFi works. They cannot know for a fact that these WiFi hotspots are within the convention space, they could and likely are, blocking WiFi located outside of that space.&lt;p&gt;Additionally they&amp;#x27;re claiming that they literally own the radio spectrum within a &amp;quot;proprietary space&amp;quot; which is a dangerous line. What is stopping them from blocking all cellular signals or worse charging cellphone companies for the signal travelling through their space?&lt;p&gt;Their point about security is nonsense. The technology they&amp;#x27;re employing is DESIGNED to secure WiFi networks by disconnecting actually rogue APs (i.e. devices squawking the same SSID as their network), that is still legal, the problem they and the Hilten ran into is that they took tech&amp;#x27; designed for security and mis-used it for monopolising the WiFi spectrum within their convention centers.&lt;p&gt;So, sorry, no. If your WiFi network is called SmartCityWiFi and you disconnect MyHotSpot then you&amp;#x27;re breaking the law and have zero security arguments to make.&lt;p&gt;Good on the FCC for giving these guys a fine. Too bad it wasn&amp;#x27;t more. I read their arguments and it has only made me side with the FCC more. What they&amp;#x27;re asking for would make the world a worse place in general and only helps their bottom line.</text></comment>
<story><title>FCC Fines Smart City $750K for Blocking Wi-Fi</title><url>https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-fines-smart-city-750k-blocking-wi-fi-0</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>notacoward</author><text>Here is Smart City&amp;#x27;s response.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;apps.fcc.gov&amp;#x2F;ecfs&amp;#x2F;document&amp;#x2F;view?id=60001011936&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;apps.fcc.gov&amp;#x2F;ecfs&amp;#x2F;document&amp;#x2F;view?id=60001011936&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Among other interesting points is that they seem to have been using the same &amp;quot;de-authentication&amp;quot; trick that Marriott had used in a similar case a while ago.  Also, they make an argument about density and interference that IMO shouldn&amp;#x27;t be dismissed out of hand.  I still think they were wrong and deserved the fine, but it&amp;#x27;s worth keeping in mind that mobile hotspots can fall afoul of the very same principle and law behind that fine.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>urda</author><text>&amp;gt; but it&amp;#x27;s worth keeping in mind that mobile hotspots can fall afoul of the very same principle and law behind that fine.&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;Absolutely&lt;/i&gt; wrong. Mobile hotspots do not actively transmit deauth packets into their surrounding environment.</text></comment>