Motion Picture Association of America Shuts Down Entire Town’s Wifi Over Single Download - 1,493 Views, 2 Comments

Summary: The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has managed to shut down the public Internet system for the entire town of Coschocton, Ohio, over a single downloading incident.

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The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has managed to shut down the public Internet system for an entire town, over a single downloading incident.

The county of Coshocton, Ohio has provided free Internet access to the town of Coshocton for the past five years. Housed at and blanketing the area around the Coshocton County Courthouse, the free Internet has been used regularly by the people of Coshocton, including police officers who appreciate being able to write and file a report without having to leave their car, business people passing through and needing an Internet connection, and revellers partaking of the Coshocton Canal Festival and Coshocton’s “First Fridays”, where you can “enjoy an old-fashioned Main Street experience” on the first Friday of each month (Coshocton, Ohio has been named one of the top 100 towns to visit by Midwest Living magazine).

But not any more. The MPAA determined that an individual, in a single incident, was downloading a movie, and managed to get the entire network turned off.

Said Elizabeth Kaltman, VP of Corporate Communications with the MPAA, “We target piracy at its source.”

Lamented Coshocton Commissioner Gary Fisher, “It’s unfortunate that one person ruins it for those who use the service legitimately.”

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2 Comments »

This is despicable, if the report is true in its entirety. Just how did “they”, the MPAA, manage this and who did they contact to achieve this stinking act? Was there a procedure of due process or was this the usual knee-jerk reaction of a provider to threats with menaces from one of the so-called entertainment bodies? I’m in the UK, so am not familiar with USA laws but how did this happen without going through a court and getting an order for shut-down?

Comment by David — 11/13/2009 @ 1:05 pm
“Lamented Coshocton Commissioner Gary Fisher, ‘It’s unfortunate that one person ruins it for those who use the service legitimately.’”
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no, its the arrogance of a gigabuck industry association showing its disregard for the peasants in flyover country.

Comment by "gunner" — 11/13/2009 @ 2:02 pm