Jan. 31–It was hotels that were treated to turndown service, courtesy of customers, and the government left a tip: Don’t ever interfere with Wi-Fi.
Marriott International and a hotel industry lobbying group completed their retreat on the issue of potentially interfering with customers’ use of personal Wi-Fi hot spots. In the face of an unrelenting backlash, they announced Friday they had formally withdrawn their doomed petition seeking Federal Communications Commission permission.
The announcement came just days after FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler scolded Marriott, fined $600,000 last year for illegally blocking hot spot Wi-Fi use, for its request for possible exemption from prohibitions against jamming authorized radio communications, including Wi-Fi.
“Marriott’s request seeking the FCC’s blessing to block guests’ use of non-Marriott networks is contrary to this basic principle,” Wheeler said.
Marriott and the American Hotel & Lodging Association originally cited security concerns in seeking a clarification of and possible exemption from these FCC rules. Marriott said it needed to be able to monitor access to the Internet that bypassed in-house networks and, if necessary, block the signals. It cited the danger of rogue and impostor Wi-Fi networks to customers and its own systems.
Despite a firestorm of protest over how this power might be wielded and by whom, not just within hotels but elsewhere, Marriott first clarified its only concern was meeting rooms and convention space and said it would leave lobby areas and guest rooms alone. Then it said it would never block signals anywhere.
On Friday, Marriott and the AHLA withdrew their request altogether.
“We thought we were doing the right thing asking the FCC to provide guidance, but the FCC has indicated its opposition,” Marriott International Global Chief Information Officer Bruce Hoffmeister said in a statement.
“Our industry identified a critical issue and requested clarity from a governing body … to clear up the significant confusion that exists around what tools businesses can use to legally protect guests’ vital personal data,” said Katherine Lugar, AHLA’s president and chief executive.
“It is clear that the petition is not achieving this goal, and that we must work in other ways to resolve this issue of consumer safety and cybersecurity,” Lugar said.
Cisco Systems lined up behind the hotels’ effort. Google, Microsoft and wireless service providers were among those to formally object.
Consumers created a public relations nightmare for Marriott via social media, expressing concern that the petition was an attempt by hotels to stifle their rights and profit by forcing them to use hotels’ own proprietary Wi-Fi networks. Questions were raised as well about not only the propriety but the implications of allowing businesses to limit how and if people may access the Internet.
Twitter @phil_rosenthal
