Delta to Block Porn on In-Flight Wi-Fi
Posted by Matt Phillips -- WSJ Blog
October 6, 2008, 1:55 pm
As the move to airborne Wi-Fi continues, Delta has decided to filter the Web access it will begin offering next month.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the airline had planned to have flight attendants handle passengers looking at inappropriate content, but “after feedback from customers and attendants, the airline changed its policy and is working with Wi-Fi provider Aircell to use a system to block inappropriate content.”
“Blocking will be limited in scope and will be for sites that few, if any, would question are inappropriate to be viewed on an aircraft,” Delta spokesman Kent Landers told the paper. “Our focus is to achieve a balanced approach.”
Delta plans to begin passenger flights with Internet service in November, putting a system on several dozen MD-88s. (It will cost $9.95 for flights less than three hours long. Passengers will pay $12.95 for Web access on longer trips.) The Atlanta-based carrier is using Aircell, which is the same internet provider hired by American Airlines to provide in-flight access.
American has said that it expects flight attendants to handle situations where passengers might be looking at racy or inappropriate sites and has opted not to filter access. American has, however, said it will prevent passengers from using bandwidth-hogging applications such as Internet-phone services such as Skype.