MPAA makes county shut down wi-fi

This story is from last month, but it's received strikingly little coverage until now.

Coshocton County, Ohio, provided free wi-fi to its citizenry in the block around the courthouse. But now the block is left without Internet access - because the Motion Picture Association of America deems it shall be so.

ONE person abused the wi-fi to illegally download ONE movie. Just one. Because of that, the MPAA told Coshocton County to shut down its wi-fi. The county complied unquestioningly.

Why does the county even give a shit what the MPAA thinks? Am I correct in saying that the county can't be held legally liable for this lone illegal download? Congress exempted ISP's from responsibility when they knowingly allow harassment by its customers - so aren't counties shielded from responsibility for a single download they know nothing about?

This is like making the electric company shut off power to the county because of this one download.

County Commissioner Gary Fisher said, "It's unfortunate that one person ruins it for those who use the service legitimately." (RUINS!!!) But a more accurate statement would be: It's unfortunate the MPAA ruins it for those who use the service legitimately - and that the county caves to the MPAA, even though the MPAA has no legal power to force the county to shut off its wi-fi.

(Source: http://gizmodo.com/5403584/mpaa-shuts-down-entire-towns-wi+fi-over-single-illegal-download;
http://www.coshoctontribune.com/article/20091109/UPDATES01/91109015/Illegal-movie-download-forces-shutdown-of-free-Wi-Fi)