image Just one possible illegal download was enough for local officials to shut down a free WiFi net used by hundreds in tiny Coshocton, Ohio. Fear of Sony Pictures and the Motion Picture Association of America may have played a role. It is not even clear if an illegal download took place.

The e-book angle: More and more people will browse for e-books and read them via WiFi and other wireless technology, in the era of cloud computing. Ideally providers of freebies will show more backbone.

Related: Google, Yahoo and Bing spread holiday cheer with free WiFi, via Last Click News.

(Found via Gamdel and April Hamilton.)

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2 COMMENTS

  1. The body of the Coshocton Tribune article does not identify the person or group responsible for the shutdown. It uses the passive voice to state that the service “has been shut down”. An article by Wendy Davis at the Daily Online Examiner says:

    Why the county felt it necessary to disconnect its Wi-Fi remains unknown. The Motion Picture Association of America says it didn’t ask for the network to be shuttered; the county hasn’t yet responded to requests for comment.

    But even had the MPAA asked for the Wi-Fi to be discontinued, the county would have been under no obligation to comply. What’s more, there’s no indication that the piracy allegation is even true. Consider, last year University of Washington computer scientists published a paper detailing how their use of BitTorrent resulted in hundreds of takedown notices that wrongly alleged copyright infringement.

    On the other hand, MPAA was clearly involved, and it seems possible that one motivation for the shutdown was fear of a lawsuit from the MPAA.

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