The citizens of Coshocton, Ohio are without free Internet after a single download prompted the Motion Picture Association of America to shut down the a Wi-Fi node, says the Coshocton Tribune.
About five years ago, the county made a free wireless Internet connection available in the block surrounding the Coshocton County Courthouse at 318 Main St. It was disabled last week after someone used the wireless local area network address to illegally download a movie.
The county’s Internet Service Provider — OneCommunity — was notified by Sony Pictures Entertainment about the breach, and the county’s Information Technology Department was in turn notified by OneCommunity. Mike LaVigne, IT director, said a program that would prevent the illegal downloads from happening in the future would cost the cash-strapped county about $2,900 to implement, $2,000 for equipment and then $900 annually for the filtering program.
In 2007, OneCommunity received an $11.3 million grant to create a fiber network between 19 regional hospitals and has worked since 2003 to connect schools, libraries, governments and hospitals to their fiber backbone.
OneCommunity’s WiFi node is entirely separate from Lightspeed’s WiMAX system which is being deployed throughout the county. Lightspeed, a privately funded company, expects to cover 80% of Coshocton County this year.
There are many sites offering illegal movie and music downloads, of course. No word on whether the city’s other providers such as Time-Warner Cable, AT&T and Verizon Wireless will also need to stop providing cable modem, DSL and mobile data services.
UPDATE: The the wi-fi service in now back on. News of the shut down spread quickly. Sony Pictures received complaints about big companies picking on small towns. Corporate communications for Sony Pictures Entertainment, e-mailed Coshocton county official Michael LaVigne and asked them to turn the wi-fi service back on.
