Begin forwarded message:
> From: Tom
> Date: Wed Sep 17, 2003 9:08:13 PM US/Pacific
> To: fork [at] xent [dot] com
> Subject: Time Warner Sues Apt. Over Wireless Theft
>
>
> Time Warner Sues Apt. Over Wireless Theft
> By Harry Berkowitz
> Staff Writer
>
> September 15, 2003, 7:00 PM EDT
>
> Cable theft has evolved into piracy of high-speed Internet access, Time
> Warner Cable of New York claims.
>
> The cable company Monday sued iNYC Wireless and London Terrace Towers,
> a
> large apartment complex in the Chelsea section of Manhattan, saying
> they
> rerouted and resold Road Runner access without permission.
>
> They did so with the help of high-powered wireless-fidelity, or Wi-Fi,
> transmitters spread through the apartment complex, Time Warner Cable
> said in
> the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
>
> “iNYC’s theft and resale has unjustly renriched iNYC,” the suit claims.
> Customers of iNYC did not know about the illegal activity, the suit
> says.
>
> Jeff Schwartz, a lawyer for the London Terrace board of directors,
> said,
> “London Terrace knows nothing about this and denies any wrongdoing.” A
> call
> to iNYC was not returned.
>
> Time Warner Cable said iNYC Wireless reached a point where it stopped
> paying
> Verizon Communications for Internet access over T1 connections and
> started
> tapping into Road Runner lines in the apartments of some building
> superintendents. Many of the superintendents were getting complimentary
> service from Time Warner.
>
> The service called iNYC Wireless, based in Brooklyn, charges $39.99 per
> month and a one-time fee of $150 for its Wi-Fi receiving card. It
> distributes the service wirelessly over high-powered transmitters and
> amplifiers in buildings.
>
> Time Warner Cable, which has 300,000 Road Runner customers in New York
> City,
> charges $44.95 to $59.95 per month and connects through cable modems.
>
> On its Web site, iNYC says it focuses on adding “smart building
> functions
> that will grow out of our relationships with building staff, ownership
> and
> residents.”
>
> Copyright 2003, Newsday, Inc.
>
> Nigel Ballard
> nigel [at] joejava [dot] com
> www.joejava.com
>