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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Topic: Cell phone jammer
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Jason Black
Phenomenal Film Handler
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Posts: 1723
From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 12-22-2002 07:58 PM
Ya know, the more I think about it the stronger I feel about this situation.
If someone is soooo damn important that they must have mobile tracking device on them 24/7, they shouldn't be in a theatre in the first place! Public yakkers on cell phones just plain piss me off! I hate being next to "that guy/girl" who has to tell their phonemate what's going on in their life while at the register trying to pay (all while holding up the line and pissing everyone else off). And, invariably, that person looks at everyone else as if to say "What? what are you looking at?"
I admit, I carry my cell nearly everywhere, but I will not take a call while in a public place in view/earshot of others. It's plain rude and tasteless. Plus, what business is it of anyone else's what I'm talking about?
Cell phones should be able to be blocked in actual auditoriums. I think people have been numbed enough to allow them in common areas like the lobby, restrooms, etc. but be damned if they should have to pay to listen to some jerk yakking in during the presentation!
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Jack Ondracek
Film God
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Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002
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posted 12-22-2002 08:19 PM
Well, I did some more looking around & found a lot more articles about these things. Since the last time I looked, a US-based advocacy group has kicked in, and most media "sound bytes" seem to track back to this group and its spokesman. While other countries have found ways to make use of these things without major problems, they haven't been legalized in the 'states... and this group is pretty sure they won't be.
As with all things political, this group has found a narrow, single-minded hook to push continued banning of cell jammers. The idea that people need to be able to make and receive emergency calls, even in a hostile environment like a theatre.
The fact that theatres have wired phones doesn't matter to them. As for emergency personnel, firemen don't use cell phones to alert them, and unless they've stopped, doctors used to have pagers... which would not be affected by a cell jammer. It seems a pretty thin argument, since legal passive devices would cause the same effect, and nobody's really griping muchy about the risk to life and limb caused by that technology.
One article had it right on, as far as I can tell. The cell phone industry has spent billions in this country to get control of spectrum. In light of technological offerings that lag behind countries like Japan, competition from other cell companies and a sluggish market caused in part by overbuilding, the last thing these companies want to see is technology that prevents their customers from using as much billable airtime as possible. If one industry could get a toe-hold in, like theatres, schools, hospitals, airlines, etc... the rest would probably follow pretty quickly.
Another thing that seems interesting is that there appears to be a pretty healthy underground market in these things. Tracking their use is difficult because the users don't seem to be able to tell the difference between passive or active jamming, and therefore do not file complaints with the FCC, which admits to not having ever raided an illegal jamming site.
There was an article that mentioned technology that would allow an outside signal to put nearby cell phones into vibrate mode, but it said that few manufacturers had been inclined to add it to their products.
What we need is Maxwell Smart's "cone of silence"!!
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