Surely URL "capture" predates wi-fi and wireless hotspots? Wasn't it used in some traditional dial-up ISP NAS (Network Access Server) applications?
Yes, dial-up ISPs have been doing this for years ... via Radius you can redirect customers to specific areas (such as "your account is overdue, pay me now"). Check out Livingston(Lucent)'s "ChoiceNet" (just one example) : http://portmasters.com/tech/docs/choicenet/UsingChoiceNet.fm.html#1006662 - this has been around since 1997.
-rob
