The U.S. Presidential Debate is one of the important events during this year. Journalists who attended the debate had to splash $200 if they needed a Wi-Fi connection.
The U.S. Presidential Debate took place on Sept. 26 evening at Long Island's Hofstra University. According to Hofstra's media rate sheet for the event, a simple Wi-Fi connection for press was $200. Most of the journalists who attended the event ridiculed the high fee charged by the university. The $200 Wi-Fi connection allowed connection of maximum five devices.
To make things worse, Hofstra also prohibited journalists to use their personal Wi-Fi spots, which means journalists who wanted Wi-Fi had to bear the steep $200 charge. Reporters who attended the event revealed that Hofstra was serious about the policy. The university sent people with hand-held devices at the event to search for offending hotspots and asked people to disable them.
Technicians patrolling #debatenight press file using this device to detect & shut down hotspots, so they can sell $200 wifi accounts instead pic.twitter.com/JzbkzlZR1g
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) 26 September 2016
According to the media rate sheet [pdf] for the event, a phone line with secured Ethernet cost reporters $600 and those opting for unlimited wireless access for 20 or more devices had to pay $3,500. Charging for Wi-Fi connectivity, however, is not a new practice by event hosts, Hofstra also charged journalist a fee for Wi-Fi connection during the 2012 U.S. Presidential Debate. The $200 charge was extremely steep and it has disappointed many journalists.
Dear god. @RyanBeckler just sent me this from Hofstra. They're charging $200 for media WiFi access. pic.twitter.com/VSagT6ZerF — (((Steph Haberman))) (@StephLauren) 26 September 2016
Reports suggest that Hofstra's decision to ban personal Wi-Fi connectivity from the U.S. Presidential Debate was unlawful.
An Ars Technica report highlighted that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) imposed a fine of $600,000 on Marriott in October 2014 for blocking customers' personal Wi-Fi hotspots at their Nashville, Tennessee, branch.
Even though, Marriott paid the hefty fine, it also filed a request with the commission that blocking of personal Wi-Fi should be permitted. Marriott reasoned that such a practice will help in batter security management.
Many journalists attending the U.S. Presidential Debate had no choice but to opt for the $200 Wi-Fi connection. However, reporters have also claimed that the expensive connection was down.
Aaaaaaaaand the $200 Wi-Fi Hofstra forced the reporters to buy at the #debate? It's down.
— emily (((dreyfuss))) (@EmilyDreyfuss) 26 September 2016
It remains to be seen if the FCC will take any action on Hoftra University's decision to ban personal Wi-Fi connections from the U.S. Presidential Debate.
Photo: Gage Skidmore | Flickr
