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Wi-Fi Blocking: In 3 Words, 'Don't Do It'Wi-Fi Blocking: In 3 Words, 'Don't Do It'

Federal law prohibits jamming of wireless signals -- and recent FCC actions make clear the agency is not messing around with perpetrators.

Martha Buyer

November 12, 2015

1 Min Read
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Federal law prohibits jamming of wireless signals -- and recent FCC actions make clear the agency is not messing around with perpetrators.

Can't get your hotspot to work in a hotel or conference center? That's a problem the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is interested in hearing about. Willful or malicious interference with Wi-Fi hot spots, often known as "jamming," is illegal, and perpetrators of these bad acts -- regardless of purpose -- will pay dearly. Period.

The FCC last week issued an Enforcement Advisory regarding two separate jamming problems. In the first instance, Wi-Fi interference not only occurred, but also was achieved (a dubious distinction to be sure) beyond the property where the jam was intended. In the second case, the problem was -- and continues to be -- the perpetrator's lack of response to FCC queries about jamming at its properties. The cases are different, but the take-away is the same. Don't do it, and don't let your company/clients/friends do it.

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Fun Fact

Film actress Hedy Lamarr, along with avant-garde musician George Antheil, held the first U.S. anti-jamming-related patent, that being for the most widely used type of anti-jamming processes currently in use -- frequency hopping spread spectrum technology.

About the Author

Martha Buyer

Martha Buyer is an attorney whose practice is largely limited to the practice of communications technology law. In this capacity, she has negotiated a broad array of agreements between providers and both corporate and government end users. She also provides a wide range of communications technology consulting and legal services, primarily geared to support corporate end-users' work with carriers and equipment and service providers. In addition, she works extensively with end users to enable them to navigate international, federal, state and local regulatory issues, with particular attention to emergency calling, along with issues related to corporate telecommunications transactions among and between carriers, vendors and end-users. She has also supported state and federal law enforcement in matters related to communications technology. Ms. Buyer's expertise lies in combining an understanding of the technologies being offered along with contractual issues affecting all sides of the transaction. Prior to becoming an attorney, Ms. Buyer worked as a telecommunications network engineer for two major New York-based financial institutions and a large government contractor. She is an adjunct faculty member at Regis University, the Jesuit college in Denver, where she teaches a graduate-level course in Ethics in IT.