Journalists at Hofstra presidential debate forced to pay $200 to use unreliable internet connection

Freedom of the press cost a pretty penny for reporters covering Monday night’s presidential debate: Journalists in attendance said they were required to pay $200 for internet access and were prohibited from using personal wireless devices within Hofstra University.

Signage posted inside the venue’s media filing center and shared on social media revealed that reporters were required to pay $200 a piece to purchase wireless internet access for up to five personal devices; individuals requiring a hardwired ethernet connect could acquire one for a cost of $325.

Reporters on hand described the costly wireless connection as unreliable, and one at least journalist said the service was down for around 45 minutes near the end of Monday night’s debate.

Journalists who attempted to avoid paying pricey internet costs by connecting to their own personal devices such as wireless hotspots were threatened with having their press credentials revoked, Politico’s Kenneth Vogel reported. In an email to Gizmodo, the reporter said the ban was being enforced by the Commission on Presidential Debates, which had deployed hand-held wireless testing devices to scour the media area for unsanctioned internet connections.

“If people refuse to turn off their hot-spots, CPD representatives will be summoned to explain that, if they don’t comply, their credentials will be revoked,” the reporter said he was told by a CPD technician.

Slate reporter Jim Newell reported that an announcement broadcast over the loudspeaker at Hofstra earlier Monday afternoon warned that mobile hotspots were “strictly prohibited.” When he discussed potential workarounds with a tech manager on the scene, Mr. Newell said he was told his only options were to pay $200 for Wi-Fi or $325 for ethernet-enabled internet access.

The $200 internet was “crapping out like hell” eight minutes prior to the debate’s start, Mr. Newell tweeted. Washington Post reporter Philip Rucker described the situation as a “Hofstra hot mess” and said the internet was down for around half of the 90-minute showdown between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

The rules enforced during Monday night’s debate may have violated a Federal Communications Commission advisory that prohibits blocking or interfering with authorized radio communications, Ars Technica reported. In 2014, the FCC fined the Marriott hotel chain $600,000 for prohibiting guests from using personal hotspots at one of its properties.

“No hotel, convention center or other commercial establishment or the network operator providing services at such establishments may intentionally block or disrupt personal Wi-Fi hot spots on such premises, including as part of an effort to force consumers to purchase access to the property owner’s Wi-Fi network. Such action is illegal and violations could lead to the assessment of substantial monetary penalties,” the FCC said in a Jan. 2015 enforcement advisory following its investigation into Marriott.

Neither Hofstra University nor the FCC immediately responded to Ars Technica’s request for comment, the tech site reported.

In July, cybersecurity researchers from Avast Software set up a handful of open wireless networks around the site of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in an attempt to see if individuals would allow their smartphones, tablets and personal computers to connect to unfamiliar, potentially malicious networks. Around 4 percent of 1,200 people who joined those networks during a two-day span used the connection to visit government domains and websites, the researchers said.

Even with cybersecurity playing an important role in this year’s presidential election, however, Monday’s event didn’t mark the first time that reporters had to pay a fee to file from a presidential debate. Hofstra charged reporters $175 each for secure wireless internet when the university held a debate ahead of the 2012 election.