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Canada Considers Cellphone Jammers
Mark Cappel writes: "Computerworld reports the Canadian equivalent to the US FCC is considering licensing the use of cellphone jammers. One person quoted in the article says, essentially, if a property owner does not want people to use cell phones on his property, then why not jam 'em?"
as the cancer rate in canada mysteriously rises....
Yes, they almost certainly would.
In 1973, my uncle died in a Tulsa movie theatre after getting stuck to the floor in an awkward position that caused a bloot clot in his leg. It took several hours for help to arrive, because nobody could find a nickel for the payphone in the lobby. My aunt successfully sued the owner of the theatre for Operating a Public Venue Prior to the Widespread Availability of Lifesaving Cellphones.
A few months ago a woman here in town slipped and fell in the French Cultural Center gift shop and punctured her spleen on a miniature Eiffel Tower. Nobody in the store happened to have a cell phone to call 911 with, and she sued every last one of them. A jury awarded her over $24m in combined damages.
Just this morning I was walking down the street and a police officer ran up to me and demanded to use my cell phone to call his dispatcher because his car had been stolen. My batteries were worn down and he was unable to make the call. I was then arrested, and only got bailed out a few minutes ago.
"Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
While there is definatly opertunity for abuse, this is something I've been wanting for a long time. Good places to use:
-movie thearter
-classroom
-Starbucks (probably wont happen but I can dream right?)
Cell phone users drive worse than drunks, by a long shot. I want to build a mobile one and attach it to my motorcycle.
Carpe Deez
Because then you are interfering with public/private property. Just because a plane flies over your house doesn't give you the right to shoot it down for tresspassing. Think about it.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Just because cell phones currently annoy people, doesn't mean they always will. I think ANY method of limiting communications is stupid and counter to civilization. I wholeheartedly agree that many people talk on cell phones today for the wrong reasons (status and image) but I see them as eventually becoming ubiquitous devices that will be used by almost everyone. Jammers only destroy, we want things that can create and facilitate creation here in our world.
Josh
Are a good idea. They're also useful for keeping the mind control rays out of your head. Much more fashionable than hats made out of aluminum foil. Keep up the good work, Canada!
-atrowe: Card-carrying Mensa member. I have no toleranse for stupidity.
i can see where jamming cell phone where they are horribly annoying is good... however it would be better if there was some kind of cell phone maker organization that setup somethign were you could buy a device that would make tell cell phones that they are in a 'quiet zone' and then they would not ring audibly and if their user doesn't pick up, inform the person on the other side that their use is in a 'quiet zone' and take a message...
:)
there could potentially be override ability for actual need (ie emergency type things) somehow (*shrug* i'm not going to actually make a device, i'm just throwing out ideas
Need a Catering Connection
If someone had a heart attack or something, and a cell phone jammer prevented someone else from dialing 911 (or its equivalent), could the owner of the cell phone jammer face legal liability?
There's 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
I was in a Broadway theater a few months ago when a woman in front of me answered her cell phone and started gabbing away in full voice right in the middle of the show. Someone shushed her, to which she replied (loudly and angrily), "This is BUSINESS!" Fine, lady. Take your business outside.
C'mon, people, how hard can it be?
- Put it on vibrate!
- Sit on the aisle!
- If you need to make or take a call, leave the theater!
Same goes for restaurants, to an extent. Basically, if you can talk on your cell as you would talk to a companion at your table, fine. If not, find some privacy.I was refering to Low-Flying airplaines, helicopters as well. If you don't think you own a lot of the sky, you need to take a look at a skyscraper some time and see how much airspace they've taken over above their property.
Secondly, if you decide you don't like what's broadcast on Channel 4 you don't have the right to just interfer with that signal, and you sure can't broadcast over it. In fact, read the FCC note on any electronic device... It has been certified not to generate any harmful interference. If it does, it can't be sold in the USA.
Despite what you may believe, you do not own the airwaves just as you don't own the airspace above your property. CB bands are open to whatever you want to do with them, but the frequency cell phones use was sold to the companies. If you block or interfere with it in any way, you are damaging their property.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
I'm an American, but I'll be the first to admit that Canada is leading the information-technology revolution and leaving the US in the dust. Thirty years ago, parts of New Brunswick still didn't have running water. Now they're hotbeds of technological innovation.
Canada is ideal for two reasons: a small disperse population and a friendly regulatory environment. Unlike the US to the south, Canada's governments know how to spur economic and technological innovation by adopting stimulative regulations; a best-of-both-worlds approach where economic competition is suppressed in favor of great horizontal development. Monopolies become numerous, but the market is best served by maintaining control in the hands of the few where it can be best put to use. Take the Canadian health-care system, for example. The government has a monopoly on health care, but access is guaranteed to all. Perhaps the DOJ and its zealous persecution of Microsoft can learn something from this.
The American film industry is moving to Canada, as are giants in the IT industry. Fifty years ago, technology like this would've had to have been developed and deployed in the US if it were to be taken seriously. Now, it can be developed, deployed, and perfected in Canada, where it can then be exported to the rest of the world. Canada is about to replace the US as the world's largest exporter of electronic and devices and will likely supplant the US as the world's biggest superpower within a few decades.
Cellphone-jamming technology, whatever its moral and legal implications, is just another step in Canada's conquest of the twenty-first century. Expect more from Canada.
Read the rest of this comment...
This irks me. Cell phones typically don't give the user appropriate auditory feedback. On a regular phone, you can hear yourself through the phone, on a cell phone you can't. I'm not sure why this design decision was made[1]. The result is that people can't hear themselves through one ear and talk louder to compensate.
Providing the traditional feedback that a landline phone offers would undoubtedly reduce the volume that cell phone users spoke at.
I get very annoyed by people using cell phones while driving or in relatively quiet public places, but there are concerns. Imagine a doctor on call going to a movie with his cell phone, when an emergency call doesn't make it through.
From what I've read though (a NY Times article, I think), beepers aren't affected by cell jammers.
I've also heard that you can put metal mesh in walls and ceilings to prevent most cell signals.
[1] Possible reasons:
Firstly, the coverage is so poor. Here in Tennessee, digital coverage is a 10-mile radius blob over Nashville itself, some 3-mile thick lines running along the interstates and some small blobs over the larger cities. Now, it's fair to say that the low population density makes it less financially attractive to cover the more rural areas but you have to remember that people buy cellphones so they can be contacted wherever they go. In the UK, it's annoying if you enter a deadspot for a few minutes in a day. Now imagine that it's like that 80% of the time or more in the USA for many people.
Secondly, here in the USA, mobile numbers are real numbers. That means that someone calling a mobile pays a normal rate and the owner of a mobile has to pick up the remaining cost. Most of the rest of the world, it's a higher charge to call a mobile and the owner doesn't pay. This means the owner of the mobile is in charge of their expenses. This is both a deterrent to callers so essential calls only tend to get made (Not your mother talking about her friends dodgy knee) but also insures that if someone calls, you don't have to rudely ask them to stop talking to you as it's costing you too much.
Rich
it would be better if there was some kind of cell phone maker organization that setup somethign were you could buy a device that would make tell cell phones that they are in a 'quiet zone'
You mean something like this?
In my opinion, it's much better if cell-phone jamming is optional, rather than accomplished by brute force. What if the babysitter is trying to tell me there's been an emergency at home, and my phone doesn't even vibrate?
All that's really needed is good manners and consideration of others. Unfortunately, many people with cell phones suddenly become very important in their own eyes, or at least more important that other people deserving of consideration. If everyone followed the four simple rules of cell phone courtesy, we wouldn't need regulation or legislation or jammers. Many might consider the following four rules as infringing on their right to be jerks whenever they wish:
- Take not calls in class, theater, movie, concert, library, nor any other place where speaking in an ordinary voice would be considered disruptive.
- If thee must take calls, set the phone to vibrate, and excuse thyself before taking the call. If the caller has hung up, use thou thy messaging, and return the call.
- Take not calls while driving, operating a chainsaw, brushing thy child's teeth, playing an accordian, nor any other activity where concentration and motor coordination are needed.
- If a call is paramount, move thou to a quiet place, rather than asking all around thee to quiet. If the reception is bad, assume not that it is the other end, but look thou at the weather, or at thy own degrading battery before shouting. Shouts will not travel better to the cell tower than whispers.
If people followed these rules, then jammers would not be necessary. I teach college classes; my students sometimes need cell phones on to keep track of family or situations at work. They need to take these calls, and can jolly well excuse themselves when the calls come in. If jammers were turned on, I expect enrollment in these classes would drop...