Opryland Gets BIG Fine

Our offices are only about 40 minutes from Opryland and we have attended many events there. This story is definitely true!

Here's some payback for everyone who has felt gouged by hotel charges for Wi-Fi service: Marriott International has to pay $600,000 following an investigation into whether it intentionally blocked personal Wi-Fi hotspots in order to force customers to use its own pricey service.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission looked into allegations that employees of Marriott's Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville used signal-blocking features of a Wi-Fi monitoring system to prevent customers from connecting to the Internet through their personal Wi-Fi hotspots, the regulator said in its consent decree. The hotel charged customers and exhibitors $250 to $1,000 per device to access Marriott's Wi-Fi network.

The hotel's Wi-Fi blocking violated the U.S. Communications Act, the FCC said.

"Consumers who purchase cellular data plans should be able to use them without fear that their personal Internet connection will be blocked by their hotel or conference center," FCC Enforcement Bureau chief Travis LeBlanc said in a statement. "It is unacceptable for any hotel to intentionally disable personal hotspots while also charging consumers and small businesses high fees to use the hotel's own Wi-Fi network. This practice puts consumers in the untenable position of either paying twice for the same service or forgoing Internet access altogether."

Marriott said it believes its actions were legal.