That wi-fi isn’t free, you know

Apparently, NYC coffee shops are cutting down on people camping out with a laptop and hogging table space that could be used by paying customers. One such “customer” complains today in the WSJ:

Laptop backlash poses particular difficulties for people without offices, says Leah Meyerhoff, 29, a film director and free-lancer. She long has used coffee shops to interview cast and crew and to work on pre-production. Now, she says, “it’s a constant search for places with the Internet where I can sit and focus without being frowned upon.”

You mean businesses want paying customers who will come in and buy their product, not people lounging around trying to get extras to appear in their marginal indie flicks? How bizarre.