MPAA manages to shut down entire towns free Wi-Fi due to one illegal download

It seems as if it has been a while since we last heard an MPAA horror story, but not to worry because we have a goodie for you on this fine Friday morning.

It would seem that those living in Coshocton, Ohio have at least temporarily lost their free Wi-Fi. And yes, they had city wide free Wi-Fi, or at least did until the MPAA came into town. The access was set up in the area surrounding the County Courthouse and was noted as serving anywhere from a dozen to one hundred users during a day. Of course it took just one user to prompt the shut down.

And that shutdown came after a notice from Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Unfortunately it looks like the service may also remain offline because although the town has found a way to prevent this from happening in the future that system costs money. But the Commisioners are questioning whether the $2000 setup and $900 annual fee would be worth it for a free giveaway.

But with that comes the moral of the story. First you cannot truly depend on free Wi-Fi. But more importantly — do not be that guy (or girl) that causes this. In other words, use free Wi-Fi responsibly, and treat it like you would at home. And no that does not mean its a pipe for porn, instead use the golden rule. If you would not download said item from your home connection, then it is most likely not a good idea to download it from a publicly available connection.

Its a shame that the town could not identify the person who caused this, it seems that in a smaller town like this a little public shaming would do the trick.

Read [Coshocton Tribune] Via [Consumerist]