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03/28/2005: "Spokane begins charging for WiFi"

Spokane, the city that charges for day-old newspaper articles is now charging for otherwise free and open spectrum.


The company that serves up the free connection for Spokane’s downtown Wi-Fi “HotZone” has begun charging for extended use of the service.

The thinking person will recognize that a nearly infinite number of MAC addresses are to be had. Use one every two hours. That oughta give them fits.

Skidmore said the company has added safeguards that keep users from “spoofing,” or creating bogus accounts or user identifications each time they use up two hours of time.

I guarantee this is either ineffective, or pure bullshit, unless they're using 802.1x or WPA. I also guarantee that the 10 users/day cited in the article will drop like a stone.