In early January, we reported on
Marriott International and the American Hotel and Lodging Association's request to block WiFi hotspots from convention centers and hotel properties. The request drew immediate backlash from tech critics and hotel guests.
On January 27, the FCC responded very clearly:
Persons or Businesses Causing Intentional Interference to Wi-Fi Hot SpotsAre Subject to Enforcement Action
In the 21st Century, Wi-Fi represents an essential on-ramp to the Internet.Personal Wi-Fi networks, or “hot spots,” are an important way that consumers connect to the Internet. Willful or malicious interference with Wi-Fi hot spots is illegal. Wi-Fi blocking violates Section 333 of the Communications Act, as amended.1 The Enforcement Bureau has seen a disturbing trend inwhich hotels and other commercial establishments block wireless consumers from using their own personal Wi-Fi hot spots on the commercial establishment’s premises. As a result, the Bureau is protecting consumers by aggressively investigating and acting against such unlawfulintentional interference.
Decree, into this kind of unlawful activity by the operator of a resort hotel and convention center.2In that case, Marriott International, Inc. deployed a Wi-Fi deauthentication protocol to deliberately block consumers who sought to connect to the Internet using their own personal Wi-Fi hot spots. Marriott admitted that the customers it blocked did not pose a security threat to the Marriott network and agreed to settle the investigation by paying a civil penalty of $600,000.
So, the FCC came down hard on Marriott and will use the case as a stern warning to others who wish to do the same. Meanwhile, Marriott's CEO and president came out with his own response to the FCC
settlement:
When the 'Right Thing’ Is the Wrong Approach
A concept that’s taken hold in business, and certainly at my company, is to “fail fast.” It means to try new strategies and push in new directions, but also recognize when an effort is failing - to know when to pull the plug and move on.
That’s what we at Marriott have done today. We have withdrawn our petition to the FCC on cybersecurity – an initiative we thought was the right thing to do. However, in the face of disagreement from both regulators and our customers, we see that the effort was doomed.
This issue has been a complex one, and one that has opened Marriott to much criticism – the most painful of which has been the misunderstanding of our intentions. We wanted to protect the security of Wi-Fi use for conferences at our hotels – it had nothing to do with individual guest use of Wi-Fi or personal Wi-Fi hotspots.
In fact, we have led the industry in offering millions of customers free Internet access. In October, we announced that Marriott Rewards Members – a membership that is free and open to anyone – would have free Internet when they book direct. That message has been drowned out by the noise with the FCC.
Cybersecurity is a major concern across the business world and, certainly, in our industry, where guests and conference-goers rightly expect that any hotel-provided connection be secure. We are in a pitched battle against hackers who are at work daily trying to fool consumers – sometimes by setting up a Wi-Fi network that seeks to lure conference-goers into a site intended to steal passwords or other valuable data.
At one of the Gaylord hotels that joined our system in 2012, the staff had been using an FCC-approved device that blocked rogue Wi-Fi in conference areas. They thought it would enhance cybersecurity and Wi-Fi performance for the conference attendees. The FCC disagreed and fined us, after we had taken over the hotel. We, along with an industry trade group, the American Hotel and Lodging Association, and others, asked the FCC for clarification through a petition because we thought everyone – our business, our industry and our customers -- would benefit from clear rules on how to ensure secure Wi-Fi.
The FCC disagreed again. Our customers weren’t happy with us either. Many thought our actions smacked of greed; that we were looking for a way to force customers to buy access to Wi-Fi in our hotels. Denying this and pointing out that individual guests could easily get free Wi-Fi didn’t help much. Nobody really had time to get into the details. Mostly our statements just led to more negative coverage and reaction.
Today, we concluded that our approach was the wrong one. We have heard our customers loud and clear. They want unfettered Wi-Fi access. We will do our best to warn our conference customers of the security risks of rogue hotspots. But, let’s all move on.
Not very contrite, was it? Even though the FCC found that they "deliberately blocked consumers" and admitted that those personal WiFi devices were "not a security threat", we simply misunderstood. Well, the FCC just gave them 600,000 reasons to think twice about protecting us like that in the future.