The citizens of Coshocton, Ohio are without their free internet after a single download prompted the Motion Picture Association of America to shut down the town’s municipal Wi-Fi network.
This is by no means the first time the MPAA has stepped on the little guy in their crusade to eradicate piracy, but it is a particularly egregious instance of it. The free Wi-Fi network in Coshocton, Ohio supported anywhere from “a dozen people a day to 100 during busy times”, all of whom are left without internet after the shut down. As nations like Finland move to make broadband access a legal right, it is unfortunately clear that some powerful people still consider it a privilege and not a necessity.
Let this be a lesson to those who not only enjoy but depend on free Wi-Fi networks. Enjoy it while it lasts, because if Dennis the Menace down the block can’t wait for Transformers 3 to come out on DVD, you might be out a connection. [Via BoingBoing]
Shane
Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 10:03 AMOh well, guess we’ll just have to resort to e’old boot sales to get our “demo” copies again…or order them from asia…
Really…
Red T-Rex
Monday, November 16, 2009 at 4:35 PMI know way more people who get movies and TV shows cheap on holidays to south east asia rather than downloading. After all their effort to shutdown downloading they’ll see that it hasn’t made any difference in the end.