Governor Sent Bill To Stop Personal Wi-Fi Hotspot Blocking

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisianans would be free to use mobile phone hotspots despite attempts from hotels, convention centers or trade shows to block personal access, if the governor approves a measure sent to his desk.

With a 33-0 vote Friday, the Senate gave final passage to the House-backed bill to bar Wi-Fi hotspot blocking proposed by Sen. Eric LaFleur, a Ville Platte Democrat.

LaFleur says his bill saves people from having to buy into a company's daily Wi-Fi access program in order to have wireless internet access to laptops, tablets, smartphones or other devices.

He says disabling personal hotspots when people pay cellular data plan fees to have that access would be "fundamentally unfair."

Violators of the measure would face a fine up to $10,000 for each offense.

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Senate Bill 251: www.legis.la.gov