New Orleans to enjoy free Wi-Fi access
By Lester Haines
Published Thursday 1st September 2005 10:37 GMT
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There is some welcome relief today for those people left wading
through the remains of New Orleans - T-Mobile has announced it will
offer free Wi-Fi access across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama
until the end of the week, and "possibly beyond that if the situation
warrants it".
That's how eWeek.com puts it, under the deliciously inappropriate
headline "T-Mobile Opens Wireless Floodgates in New Orleans". T-
Mobile hotspots can be found in locations including Borders, FedEx/
Kinko's, Starbucks, Hyatt Hotels, Red Roof Inn motels, American
Airlines, Delta Air Lines and US Airways. Those wishing to avail
themselves of T-Mobile's generous offer are pointed in the direction
of the listings for Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
T-Mobile said in a statement: "The free service is intended for those
who have been displaced from their homes or are seeking refuge from
the hurricane," adding: "This free offer for the states of Louisiana,
Mississippi and Alabama is for Wi-Fi service only, not T-Mobile voice
services. There will be no charge for T-Mobile HotSpot service, at
these locations, through the end of day Friday, September 2, 2005.
The situation will be re-evaluated at that time to determine if the
free service will continue."
While we're not entirely convinced that the company has actually been
watching the TV footage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina - and
let's be honest, swimming to the nearest Starbucks to enjoy a double
mocha chocka latte decaf while, ahem, surfing the web as the
Louisiana National Guard battle gamely to protect the store's
blueberry muffins from looters - the company can at least be
applauded for the gesture.
Sadly, not everyone is as public-spirited. The Katrina disaster has
brought the usual scum floating to the surface, in the form of fake
charity email appeals and the time-honoured sale of catastrophe-
related urls.
The Boston Globe reports that within the last day, a rash of websites
- including, according to the paper, Katrinahelp.com,
katrinadonations.com and katrinarelief.com - has broken out on the
net promising to forward donated cash to relief workers. The paper
notes there is no way of knowing whether the money - collected via
PayPal - ever reaches the intended recipients.
Actually, all three websites are basically the same, declaring:
"WE've found that www.KatrinaHelp.info is a good site to share YOUR
good fortune with Katrina's victims. Contact us HERE to find out How
YOU can add your link to this website." Leave any of them open, and
after a while they redirect to a parking page with the obligatory ads
- a low-grade scam to grub up a few bucks. Possibly more sinister are
the mailto: links on the sites. Once you've thrown over an email to
see how you can help, the reply may end up costing you more than you
expected. Federal Trade Commission spokeswoman, Claudia Bourne-
Farrell "cautioned consumers never to click on any link in an e-mail
solicitation because consumers may end up at a phony site that looks
real but is only a setup by identity thieves to get confidential
information".
The FBI, meanwhile, says it is investigating "a handful of reports of
fraudsters using e-mail and websites to impersonate legitimate fund-
raising and relief organizations related to the hurricane". Spokesman
Paul Bresson warned: "People who want to make a donation or
contribute to a cause should actively seek out reputable
organizations and then contact them by telephone or by typing their
web address into a web browser. The important point is that they
initiate this contact on their own."
And while the Feds deal with the scammers, eBay is tackling the usual
chancers who have been trying to flog what they reckon will be choice
Katrina urls, including katrinaourtsunami.com and ourtsunami2005.com.
The vendor of the latter - asking $15k for the domain - promised to
forward half of the proceeds to the American Red Cross. eBay,
however, pulled the plug because althought it "allows sellers to
dedicate a portion of their profits to charities, [the company]
requires the seller to either sign up for eBay's own giving program
or obtain permission from the charity first".
The Red Cross confirmed to the Boston Globe that no such permission
had been granted, and the axe duly fell.
On a brighter note, employees who had been ordered at gunpoint to
attend the now-not-forthcoming HP Technology Forum - scheduled for
12-15 September in New Orleans - are now excused duty until the Autumn.
According to HP's update, the company is "working diligently to
determine a time in the fall when we can host the conference" and
will "automatically cancel all existing hotel reservations in New
Orleans that were booked through the conference website, without
penalty". It's also "working with the major airline carriers to
transfer any non-refundable airline tickets to the rescheduled
conference".
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