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Olympics Ban on Personal Hotspots

46 points| stevewillows | 13 years ago |techcrunch.com | reply

66 comments

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[+] mootothemax|13 years ago|reply
From the London 2012 site:

Personal/private wireless access points and 3G hubs (smart devices such as Android phones, iPhone and tablets are permitted inside venues, but must not be used as wireless access points to connect multiple devices)

http://www.london2012.com/mm/Document/Documents/General/01/2...

They also seem to be following airline rules and have banned liquids over 100ml, amongst the other usual suspects.

I've no idea how they intend to enforce the ban against personal hotspots, nor why they'd bother in the first place. It's hardly enforceable, is it?

Edit: Interesting comment by ajerman on the engadget story, does this sound plausible?

I would have to assume it's less to be oppressive and more to just minimize excessive airwave congestion in the area. If a few hundred people are running a mobile hotspot, you're going to have quite a bit of traffic on the ole wifi frequencies.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/25/london-bans-mobile-hotspo...

[+] jerf|13 years ago|reply
I'm guessing there will be for-pay wireless access hotspots installed. No inside info beyond what you see, just running on the theory that every dime is being squeezed out of the spectators and extrapolating from there.
[+] gaius|13 years ago|reply
Presumably it's because Samsung is their Official Mobile Phone Sponsor.

The liquids thing is because Coke is their Official Carbonated Beverage Sponsor.

[+] DanWaterworth|13 years ago|reply
The way the Olympics is being organized is making me ashamed of my country.
[+] drivingmenuts|13 years ago|reply
It's not just the UK. The Olympics has their heads buried so far up corporate backsides, they're operating with a 20th century mentality.

Time to shut the whole thing down and come up with something relevant.

[+] delinka|13 years ago|reply
Is it your country or the Internatinal Olympic Committee (or whatever their official name is)? When they came to my town, I was very disappointed at the commerciality of it all, but all insisted upon by the Official International Olympic Organization.
[+] vecinu|13 years ago|reply
Why? Please elaborate.
[+] user49598|13 years ago|reply
The Olympics may be the single most overly commercialized event in human history. It is far and above more about brand exposure, corporate profit, and sex in the Olympic village than about athletics, sportsmanship or nations putting aside their differences.

I for one will not be watching, and 2 months after when everybody forgets everything that happened other than Michael Phelps rippin' a bong, not a soul will care.

[+] SageRaven|13 years ago|reply
The last event I watched was in '96. Then I became aware of the IOC behaving like the RIAA/MPAA asshats by restricting the 'net (blogging, photos, domain names, etc.).

I've been living in SLC since that time, and my family totally boycotted the 2002 winter games.

Screw the Olympics, the IOC, the sponsors, and even the athletes who make such a juggernaut possible to begin with.

[+] iamadesigner|13 years ago|reply
I hate people like you. People who feel the need to be so negative when others are trying to look on the bright side.

The olympics may be commercialized but they also featured amazing sports like swimming, running, gymnastics, weight lifting--- these sports aren't normally featured on TV and for 2 weeks, we get treated to the best these sports have to offer.

And people like you just have to ruin it with your 2 cents.

[+] biafra|13 years ago|reply
The reasoning behind this may be less evil than you think. At the Chaos Communication Congress the CCC provides wireless internet access for free and bans personal hotspots because they interfere with the provided wifi infrastructure.
[+] packetslave|13 years ago|reply
This. Yes, it's heavy-handed, but I would not be surprised to learn that the underlying goal is "keep the official wifi network from falling over from the 2.4ghz duty cycle hitting 100% across all channels due to N000 personal hotspots."
[+] nsns|13 years ago|reply
On a positive note... this event is the biggest ever evidence for the disruptive, liberating, power of the net, and the profound way new forms of news gathering and dissemination threaten the established players. Their efforts have become so elaborate, they seem like a house of cards. By the next Olympiad we'll hopefully witness a complete collapse of traditional broadcasting rights sale and enforcement.
[+] EiZei|13 years ago|reply
Also from The Verge: "BT has 1,500 paid hotspots at Olympic sites, with prices starting from £5.99 ($9.28) for 90 minutes us"
[+] hnriot|13 years ago|reply
England has a long history of go ing two fingers to authority, so I don't see this ban being anything more than administrative. A nation of rebels will treat this, any other insane rules with the disdain they deserve. The Olympic games belong to the people, not any authority.
[+] rdtsc|13 years ago|reply
Now that they've banned them, they will probably see an unusual high usage of them.

And then they'll justify buying some expensive jamming or detecting equipment because, you know, there is a ton of wifi hotspots around now.