There was an American Presidential debate yesterday! Centives is here to bring you coverage of the important issues:

• The logisticians behind the first Presidential debate required journalists to pay $200 if they wanted to use the Wi-Fi.
• Worse; they explicitly banned the use of personal hot spots created through cell phones and other devices. A $2,000 hot-spot scanner was used to find and kick out journalists breaking the rules.
• There are still workarounds. A hard wire or a Bluetooth tether can be used to create a Wi-Fi hot-spot that’s undetectable.
• And it’s a good thing that the workarounds existed. Before the debate started the $200 Wi-Fi network went down.

Read more about the (il)legality of the practice and other details at ArsTechnica.