Also absolutely wrong. There is a complete difference between a noisy environment (lots of mobile hotspots / access points) and an environment with an active attacker (device sending out deliberate deauth signals). Try to understand the difference, it's the key to the case.
> 47 U.S. Code § 333 - Willful or malicious interference
>
> No person shall willfully or maliciously interfere with
> or cause interference to any radio communications of any
> station licensed or authorized by or under this chapter
> or operated by the United States Government.
The method of interference (‘jamming’ or sending deauth packets) is irrelevant.
OK, let's play that game. What is the legal definition of "interference" with respect to this statute? What is the legal definition of "interference" with respect to the FCC? Does or should the FCC have jurisdiction over "interference" above the physical level? That's a pretty hotly debated topic. Extending the FCC's mandate in this way might not actually be such a great idea, even if it would have yielded the outcome you want in this particular case. Also, what makes 47§333 so sacred? ISTRC that it has been used to prosecute hackers that were doing nothing wrong. Personally, I think this set of issues should be addressed in a more organized way than by throwing random statutes and regulatory agencies at it.
> What is the legal definition of "interference" with respect to this statute?
“Any emission, radiation or induction that [...] seriously degrades, obstructs or repeatedly interrupts a radiocommunications service operating in accordance with this chapter.” (Emphasis added. The elision is specific to navigation and safety services.)
No, the “emission, radiation, or induction” of the bit pattern is an “emission, radiation, or induction”. The bit pattern is perfectly fine; you can print it on a t-shirt or tattoo it on your forehead and the law won't care. You can even emit, radiate, or induce it as long as that doesn't willfully or maliciously seriously degrade, obstruct or repeatedly interrupt a radiocommunications service.
> Yes, the mechanism is different, but the basic problem of interfering with others' communication is the same.
The legal problem isn't the effect of interfering with others' communication, its the active intent to interfere with others' communication.
So, no, a noisy environment because lots of people set up WiFi hotspots with no intent to prevent use (even though it may prevent some uses) does not pose the same legal issue as an environment in which someone is intentionally actively denying people the use of WiFi hotspots by spoofing de-auth packets.
Absolutely wrong. Mobile hotspots do not actively transmit deauth packets into their surrounding environment.