The use of free Wi-Fi in public businesses is privilege many people utilize for different purposes, though some companies are restricting access to certain websites.
A press release published by Shirley Banister Public Affairs on July 15, said, “On the heels of EIE’s announcement two days ago of McDonald’s successful implementation of filtered WiFi to block pornography and child pornography in nearly 14,000 stores nationally, Starbucks has announced it is exploring similar action”
‘Enough Is Enough’ (EIE) is an organization that launched a campaign in 2014 called ‘National Porn Free Wi-Fi’ in an effort to have businesses voluntarily filter pornography and child pornography on its Wi-Fi networks.
While Starbucks announced its plan to implement a similar plan of action, other businesses that aren’t franchise-owned, such as small business owners, are left to decide for themselves how, if it at all, it wants to monitor its Wi-Fi use regarding pornography.
Stephen Payne, owner of Payne’s Restaurant, 4925 Kaybee Dr., Gas City, said he doesn’t see the purpose of monitoring what people do on their personal electronic devices.
“There is not much need to regulate public Wi-Fi. I feel like it’s a good public domain,” he said. “It’s a good place for people to express themselves and as long as it harms no one I am all for it (people using our Wi-Fi for any purpose).”
However, Al Kurtz, owner of Abbey Coffee and Tree of Life bookstore, 1500 S. Western Ave., Marion, doesn’t see it the same way.
“From my perspective I don’t want to put my employees in a situation like that because it’s public indecency so that would be something we would let police handle,” he said.
While Kurtz said he doesn’t have any special filters in place to monitor people’s use of pornography sites, he does require patrons to log-in to its Wi-Fi domain to use it.
“We do require people to log-in and we change that password regularly,” he said.