A crackdown by the Federal Communications Commission on hotels and other businesses trying to force consumers to use their networks has drawn attention to the safety of using public Wi-Fi services, CNBC.com reported. The FCC warned businesses Tuesday that Wi-Fi blocking violates the Communications Act and that it is aggressively investigating the illegal move. Last October, Marriott International agreed to pay a civil fine of $600,000 to resolve an FCC probe which found that employees at one of its hotels had prevented guests from connecting to the Internet via their own Wi-Fi hotspots, while charging them for access to the hotel's network. Security experts say people should be careful when using public Wi-Fi and avoid sending banking and other sensitive documents over unfamiliar connections.
