Starbucks begins offering "free" Wi-Fi — with strings attached

Want a couple of "complimentary" hours of Wi-Fi at your local Starbucks? Fine—but you'll need a pre-paid Starbucks card first, along with a tolerance for occasional "special offer" e-mails from AT&T.  

So here's the deal: As of today, you can waltz into any of 7,000 corporate-owned Starbucks, fire up your Wi-Fi-equipped laptop or smartphone, and start surfing away over the store's wireless hotspot, all compliments of Starbucks and AT&T. That's a good start.

First, however (and as previously announced), you'll need a refillable Starbucks Card with at least $5 on it, and you must have used your card at least once within the last 30 days. OK, fine.

Also, you only get two hours of free surfing a day—so if your local Starbucks doubles as your office, you'll have to pay up eventually. Oh, and you must use your two hours of Wi-Fi in one sitting, not an hour here and an hour there.

Then there's the matter of setting up separate AT&T and Starbucks.com accounts online—mildly annoying, but doable.

Last but not least: You also must agree to up to four e-mails per year from AT&T (about "special offers that you might find valuable"). Now, AT&T promises not to give your e-mail address out to anyone else, and four e-mails a year doesn't quite constitute a flood. Still, given the choice, I'd pick no solicitation e-mails at all. 

Guess that's the price you pay for "free" Wi-Fi—at Starbucks, anyway. 

Meanwhile, still no word no word on when (or if) iPhone users will get free Starbucks Wi-Fi access. Will we get an announcement next week during Steve Jobs' Apple keynote? We'll have to wait and see.

Related:
Starbucks offers new flavor: Free Wi-Fi [USA Today]