Marriott Abandons FCC Petition for Hotel Wi-Fi Blocking

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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The Marriott Hotel Chain has officially thrown in the towel in its efforts to block guests from using anything but Marriott’s proprietary and expensive Wi-Fi systems. Marriott executives explained that their sole intent was to protect the privacy of its customers. That must explain why the wireless network charge was so overpriced. :D


As we have said, we will not block Wi-Fi signals at any hotel we manage for any reason. And, as of January 15, we provide free Wi-Fi to all members of our Marriott Rewards program who book directly with us.
 
I just wish cell service blocking could become a thing. Especially at movie theaters , maybe even some restaurants at night. I know I would pick those for movies and dinner out at times.
 
Fry's Electronics blocks cellphones to keep you from checking prices on the internet.
 
Fry's Electronics blocks cellphones to keep you from checking prices on the internet.

If someone makes a portable version of whatever device can do this , and it has 20-30 yard range , I'll be first in line for one when I go to the theater or when chatty Cathy sitting beside me at the Japanese steak house actually puts hers on speaker to describe to her friend what is going on (no really , my wife complimented me on not losing it at her when this happened the last time we went).

Let the wi-fi wars begin :)
 
Fry's Electronics blocks cellphones to keep you from checking prices on the internet.

You know, generally I would say this is a conspiracy theory, but I have very much noticed that cell reception is HORRIBLE in all of Fry's in Dallas/Fort Worth.

I always accounted it to being in a big metal box, but in reality that's pretty much every large store and I get reception in those places.

I won't say I agree with your thesis, but I have wondered this myself :confused:
 
Fry's Electronics blocks cellphones to keep you from checking prices on the internet.

This is not the case in the Downers Grove location. I cannot speak for other ones but I can say that if they do block cellphones, it isn't blocking anyone on a major carrier.

And before you accuse me of defending, I want you to know that I loathe that place with every fiber of my being and if I was told on my dying day that the company was going out of business, I'd die smiling.
 
While I hate people on cell phones in the theater, I do not support blocking the cell signal at all. What happens if some dick bag uses one and while I dont pick up my phone in the movie theater if I get calls back to back I would leave to answer. I wouldnt even be able to do that if cell service blocking was being used and I would go off on they idiots if it was a big emergency from family and I come out 2 hours later and its too late. I would literally shoot you if you were the idiot who did that.
 
While I hate people on cell phones in the theater, I do not support blocking the cell signal at all. What happens if some dick bag uses one and while I dont pick up my phone in the movie theater if I get calls back to back I would leave to answer. I wouldnt even be able to do that if cell service blocking was being used and I would go off on they idiots if it was a big emergency from family and I come out 2 hours later and its too late. I would literally shoot you if you were the idiot who did that.

Oh no! A big emergency! Heaven forbid...

It's not like someone could, you know, call the theater... kinda like they always used to have to do, or anything like that.

Guess what, you really aren't that important. Neither is your family. Turn off the fucking cell phone now and then and stop being a douche..
 
I just wish cell service blocking could become a thing. Especially at movie theaters , maybe even some restaurants at night. I know I would pick those for movies and dinner out at times.
Uh, having an active cell phone jammer is a big FCC no-no in the United States. See the FCC page. The FCC has always taken a dim view of anything that could affect communications in a emergency situation.

Think cell phone jammers are OK in Canada? Think again.
 
I think some theaters use a faraday cage to block signals, which is not a jammer so not illegal. As long as they advertise that somewhere then it's ok, otherwise (imho) they risk a lawsuit from someone dying cause of a paramedic missing an emergency call on his off day etc.
 
I think some theaters use a faraday cage to block signals, which is not a jammer so not illegal. As long as they advertise that somewhere then it's ok, otherwise (imho) they risk a lawsuit from someone dying cause of a paramedic missing an emergency call on his off day etc.


This. Just add the metal mesh into the building construction and problem solved cheaply and legally. The only reason the FCC is getting involved is because they were actively jamming the frequencies, which means broadcasting shit they weren't allowed to over public channels. I haven't seen anything that says your building construction must allow radio frequencies to penetrate.
 
Oh no! A big emergency! Heaven forbid...

It's not like someone could, you know, call the theater... kinda like they always used to have to do, or anything like that.

Guess what, you really aren't that important. Neither is your family. Turn off the fucking cell phone now and then and stop being a douche..

My cellphone is always on vibrate in the theater. Its not like you can hear it, and I never answer it inside the theater. If I have to take a call I will leave, what part of that is so hard to understand. I really hope that someone blocks your cell signal and your family or whomever tries to contact you needs you in a dire and then you say that.

Also how does everyone know where you are all the time? Do you tell everyone where you are going all the time? How would they know if you are in the theater if you dont tell them and you have no cell service? I guess you dont value your family at all and the measly price a movie ticket is worth more than your family or whomever it is needs you.
 
Oh no! A big emergency! Heaven forbid...

It's not like someone could, you know, call the theater... kinda like they always used to have to do, or anything like that.

Guess what, you really aren't that important. Neither is your family. Turn off the fucking cell phone now and then and stop being a douche..

Wow, spoken like a true douche!

Everyone is important to someone, i'm sure you are as well. And if you had young kids, would you rather step out of a theater to take a call from the babysitter saying your child choked on something and is headed to the hospital, or just wait and find the note on your kitchen table when you get home?

It is never a bad thing to be reachable, especially if you have young children. These days there are more intteruptions from babies in R rated moves than phones, most people are respectfull with phones unless your at a trashy theater.
 
Oh no! A big emergency! Heaven forbid...

It's not like someone could, you know, call the theater... kinda like they always used to have to do, or anything like that.

Guess what, you really aren't that important. Neither is your family. Turn off the fucking cell phone now and then and stop being a douche..

I think the gap is not the technology but etiquette ...technology changes and the ability to be always on call is both a blessing and a curse ... however, the gap is how people use their devices in public and not the device itself ... putting your devices in vibrate is a key thing that most people fail to do (even though the manufacturers have literally made this as easy as flipping a switch) ... most phones also now offer "do not disturb" modes for texts which people fail to use (and texting in theaters is far more annoying than calls since you see the light from the phone when people do this)

Some people will never modify their etiquette because they are too egocentric to care (as you noted) but I think there is generally just a bit of a lag for the rest of the people where etiquette catches up with technology and we train ourselves to use the vibrate, do not disturb, and airplane modes on our phones ... and I think people are starting to improve in this area
 
How did the world survive a meer 10-15 years ago when the majority of folks did not have cell phones on them at all times ? People still managed to go to the movies and eat out without someone being able to get instantly in touch with them 24/7 , what was this magic ?
 
If someone makes a portable version of whatever device can do this , and it has 20-30 yard range , I'll be first in line for one when I go to the theater or when chatty Cathy sitting beside me at the Japanese steak house actually puts hers on speaker to describe to her friend what is going on (no really , my wife complimented me on not losing it at her when this happened the last time we went).

Let the wi-fi wars begin :)

And end up in jail
 
I think the gap is not the technology but etiquette ...technology changes and the ability to be always on call is both a blessing and a curse ... however, the gap is how people use their devices in public and not the device itself ... putting your devices in vibrate is a key thing that most people fail to do (even though the manufacturers have literally made this as easy as flipping a switch) ... most phones also now offer "do not disturb" modes for texts which people fail to use (and texting in theaters is far more annoying than calls since you see the light from the phone when people do this)

Some people will never modify their etiquette because they are too egocentric to care (as you noted) but I think there is generally just a bit of a lag for the rest of the people where etiquette catches up with technology and we train ourselves to use the vibrate, do not disturb, and airplane modes on our phones ... and I think people are starting to improve in this area

I think it's a problem that will ultimately need to be solved with technology...

Outright signal jamming is illegal, so something more like a radio signal to set your phone into silent mode when entering a building will probably come about.

I use NFC tags to change my phone automatically for car mode, home mode, work mode, etc... so something like that on a large scale that is mandatory for public places would probably work... Because just putting your phone into silent mode isn't going to help when you are still texting or browsing with your screen on full bright in the middle of a dark theater or cinema.

People have this, oh my god I need to be connected mentality now days... but just a decade ago such a thing would have been nearly unheard of for the average person.

Life will go on if you unplug for a couple hours people... and to the guy who asked how is his family supposed to know where he's at to contact him...??? It's called communication... I know that is something (along with etiquette) that is solely lacking in our modern, ego-centric, "it's all about ME" society... but c'mon, it's not really that damn hard.
 
People have this, oh my god I need to be connected mentality now days... but just a decade ago such a thing would have been nearly unheard of for the average person.

Life will go on if you unplug for a couple hours people... and to the guy who asked how is his family supposed to know where he's at to contact him...??? It's called communication... I know that is something (along with etiquette) that is solely lacking in our modern, ego-centric, "it's all about ME" society... but c'mon, it's not really that damn hard.

Really, I'm single and I now live alone. So if I have to go anywhere I need to call my parents 24/7 or my family 24/7 to let them know where I am if they need me? What you are doing by blocking cell signal is saying "Its all about YOU, you dont care about anyone else its all about you and your ability to watch the movie." I paid to be there just like you, I respect that you have the right to watch the movie undisturbed but you have no right to stop my ability to communicate, and I do so in a way that will never harm you and you will never even notice. But you bringing in a cell phone jammer disrupts any possibility for me to do that.

You are so short sighted I don't even know how I can type this post without attacking you. There are numerous situations where cell phone jamming is dangerous and why the FCC bans it and its illegal. You apparently cant see any of them. Like I said I turn my cell phone on vibrate, if someone has an emergency and constantly calls me back to back I will leave to check, you jamming my cell phone wont even allow me to do that. YOU have no etiquette at all, no regard for others but your own self. A decade ago I had a cell phone by the way, and I did the same thing, put it on vibrate or silent if I needed to take a call I'll leave the theater to do so.

Now if you had a device that put all phones on vibrate and such I would support that but outright blocking the signal I will not support. The last thing I want to do is not allow someone to save a family member or to be able to say their goodbyes, all it cost me is some inconvenience in the movie theater not a big deal compared to a life, but apparently its all about me and I am so ego centric and self serving that I cant unplug myself. :rolleyes:
 
Really, I'm single and I now live alone. So if I have to go anywhere I need to call my parents 24/7 or my family 24/7 to let them know where I am if they need me? What you are doing by blocking cell signal is saying "Its all about YOU, you dont care about anyone else its all about you and your ability to watch the movie." I paid to be there just like you, I respect that you have the right to watch the movie undisturbed but you have no right to stop my ability to communicate, and I do so in a way that will never harm you and you will never even notice. But you bringing in a cell phone jammer disrupts any possibility for me to do that.

You are so short sighted I don't even know how I can type this post without attacking you. There are numerous situations where cell phone jamming is dangerous and why the FCC bans it and its illegal. You apparently cant see any of them. Like I said I turn my cell phone on vibrate, if someone has an emergency and constantly calls me back to back I will leave to check, you jamming my cell phone wont even allow me to do that. YOU have no etiquette at all, no regard for others but your own self. A decade ago I had a cell phone by the way, and I did the same thing, put it on vibrate or silent if I needed to take a call I'll leave the theater to do so.

Now if you had a device that put all phones on vibrate and such I would support that but outright blocking the signal I will not support. The last thing I want to do is not allow someone to save a family member or to be able to say their goodbyes, all it cost me is some inconvenience in the movie theater not a big deal compared to a life, but apparently its all about me and I am so ego centric and self serving that I cant unplug myself. :rolleyes:

I agree that outright jamming should be illegal, but honestly...

If you are so worried about something happening in that hour or two you are unplugged and unreachable, you have some issues that may be best served by seeing a good therapist.

An adult shouldn't need to be reached by their parents 24/7, and any parent that isn't entirely overbearing, untrusting, and controlling shouldn't need to watch over their kids should 24/7 either.

Bottom line: Shit happens, that life. You don't, and can't control it.
 
I agree that outright jamming should be illegal, but honestly...

If you are so worried about something happening in that hour or two you are unplugged and unreachable, you have some issues that may be best served by seeing a good therapist.

An adult shouldn't need to be reached by their parents 24/7, and any parent that isn't entirely overbearing, untrusting, and controlling shouldn't need to watch over their kids should 24/7 either.

Bottom line: Shit happens, that life. You don't, and can't control it.

Just because you're a loser that nobody depends on, or gives a shit about contacting doesn't mean that others don't have a life. You don't get to pick and choose when an emergency happens.
 
Oh no! A big emergency! Heaven forbid...

It's not like someone could, you know, call the theater... kinda like they always used to have to do, or anything like that.

Guess what, you really aren't that important. Neither is your family. Turn off the fucking cell phone now and then and stop being a douche..

Yea, your dad's sperm wasn't that important, but it was allowed to live to become you.

Get over yourself. Yea, cell phone at a theatre usage sucks. However, if I have a day off and go to the theatre, and my child's school needs to call me because my child is injured, I need to know when that comes in.

Like most human beings, I put my phone on silent and if I see a call coming in that I need to take, I get up and leave the theatre... but to use a cell phone jammer is just a big problem.
 
Yea, your dad's sperm wasn't that important, but it was allowed to live to become you.

Get over yourself. Yea, cell phone at a theatre usage sucks. However, if I have a day off and go to the theatre, and my child's school needs to call me because my child is injured, I need to know when that comes in.

Like most human beings, I put my phone on silent and if I see a call coming in that I need to take, I get up and leave the theatre... but to use a cell phone jammer is just a big problem.

The irony of you telling *me* to get over myself here is kinda telling.

Fuck, your kid is at school... they will take care of them for 15mins. Mommy and daddy don't gotta be there to hold their hand 24/7... and the insistence of so many parents in doing so is why the majority of kids coming up are such whiny, babied, spoiled, little pussies who can't survive once they face the real world.

I'm not saying emergencies don't happen, but 90% of the bullshit that people call emergencies AREN'T FUCKING EMERGENCIES AND DON"T NEED YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION SO GET THE FUCK OVER YOURSELF.

Christ... we live in a time of the lowest amount of war, violence, and overall crime in human history... where you are less likely to have anything "bad" happen to you than ever before, but everyone is so coddled and scared of their own fucking shadow that it is kinda pathetic.

Frankly I don't even go to movies anymore unless they have a strict policy of quickly kicking out any asshole who pulls out a cell phone, but the overall tendency of all the self-absorbed pricks who just pull out their phone anywhere and everywhere and start having a conversation in a crowd of strangers is just as fucking rude and self-absorbed as you can get... ESPECIALLY when in a place like a cinema, theater, or restaurant .

If you can't get that, then you are a part of the problem.
 
If you are so worried about something happening in that hour or two you are unplugged and unreachable, you have some issues that may be best served by seeing a good therapist.

Or maybe you have this thing called a job and you might need to reached in case of that shit that you mentioned happens. Part of the convenience and power of communications technology is that it does allow for people that need to be reachable not have to sit by a phone or a computer when they are needed. They can go enjoy life and do other things.
 
I'm not saying emergencies don't happen, but 90% of the bullshit that people call emergencies AREN'T FUCKING EMERGENCIES AND DON"T NEED YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION SO GET THE FUCK OVER YOURSELF.

True that 99.9% of the time there is not an emergency, but is there really a problem in being prepared at all times?

What if the US military only felt I had to be prepared 45% of the time, cause you know, your not that damn important.
 
If you are so worried about something happening in that hour or two you are unplugged and unreachable, you have some issues that may be best served by seeing a good therapist.

LOL

Some of us have jobs that require us 24/7 or SERIOUS SHIT does and can happen, like 10s of thousands of dollars lost, or maybe your wife goes into labor... rare but guess what I got a text message when my wife started having our first son and I was in seeing a movie.

It's about being courteous to other people. If you can't walk out when your phone vibrates to call someone or you can't hide your screen so it doesn't light up then you shouldn't have a phone in a theater but if you can behave like an adult then there's 0 problems.
 
Frankly I don't even go to movies anymore unless they have a strict policy of quickly kicking out any asshole who pulls out a cell phone

You could always be an adult and tell them to walk outside.

I've told numerous parents to silence their children, and asked people to turn off their phone... it's called being an adult and taking responsibility. It's apparent you need rules to govern your life, and others instead of simply acting courteous and like an adult!
 
Sometimes I don't get it. This is supposed to be a forum full of people that are expert technologists. What's the point of a mobile communications device if it doesn't pretty much always work where you are? That's kind of the whole damned point. That doesn't mean that you always need it but it's constantly being jammed or highly unreliable then it becomes far less useful.
 
From the article:
Marriott did maintain that it would work with the FCC to see just what, if anything, it could do to "clarify appropriate security measures network operators can take to protect customer data."

Beyond laughable. Every Marriott I have stayed in for the last year has had completely unsecure wifi. No password, no encryption. Marriott's provided wifi was worse than none at all, as it exposes their customers' information passed by weakly secured apps and websites.
 
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