$718K penalty against M.C. Dean for blocking Wi-Fi devices (2015)
I have to say that while I am against hotels engaging in this sort of activity, I find the dissenting opinion by Ajit Pai pretty compelling:<p>>But because of the shared, "commons" model that applies to all unlicensed operations, the Commission has
>repeatedly held that "interference caused to a Part 15 device by another Part 15 device does not constitute
>harmful interference."<p>In other words because the spectrum is unlicensed and because the transmissions were conformant with the part 15 spec, any such operation following the spec is allowed. How they can then they find that the Hotel was causing harmful interference is a bit troubling.<p>Clearly in everyday language we could describe what the hotel were doing as harmful, but the whole point of unlicensed spectrum is that it's a commons free-for-all. When wifi gets degraded to usability at trade shows because everyone's wifi is interfering with each other, nobody calls the FCC and files complaints about harmful interference.<p>Also it appears the FCC have been previously explicitly asked if deauth broadcasts like this are disallowed, and specifically chose not to make a ruling. It makes me wonder what the heck is going on over there. Has this issue become a political football between different factions over at the FCC?