Cell Phone Makers Patent "Brain Shields"

CyberLeader writes: "An article in the UK Times is reporting that cell phone manufacturers have patented 'brain shields,' or components intended to reduce the stray EM radiation that might enter your noggin from your phone. This despite their consistent claims that cell phone radiation is harmless."

Comments

This isn't new!

[Anonymous Coward]

The paranoid have been using these for years ;-)

They'll patent anything that sells more phones

[Smack]

The argument was never that the phones didn't produce radiation. It was that the radiation wasn't harmful, and didn't cause brain tumors.

Does that mean you can't create something that will block the radiation? Of course not. Will it prevent brain tumors? Of course not. Will it sell more phones to people who are afraid of tumors? Yes. Is it better to have a patent on it so your competitors can't sell phones with the same feature? Of course.

It's all about the benjamins, baby.

Coming soon

[Splat]

Does anyone else see a large shipment of Magic Antenna and Radiation shields arriving at that guys warehouse next to all the 2600 cartirdges, vibrating Mr. Potato-heads and Aura vests? ..

As seen on TV!

As P.T. Barnum said...

[WombatControl]

"There's a sucker born every minute."

The cellphone industry is trying to do two things:

1. Create a perception that the problem is being worked on - even if that problem doesn't exist. Even if the entire scientific community went on TV and announced to the world that the cellphone/brain cancer link was a pile of crap, it wouldn't matter. The perception is in the public's mind. Therefore, by putting a $1 shield in the phones the manufacturers can make themselves look like they're doing something, even though the problem never existed in the first place. (And the evidence is extremely flimsy... if cell phones *did* cause brain cancer than the bulky models of ten to twenty years ago should have fried the brains of several millon people by now.)
2. Next, make a cheap buck. By patenting the shield you can ensure that those cheap knockoffs already seen in stores and on TV are shut out of the action. After all, if the public's running in fear from the boogeyman, why not corner the market on boogeyman repellant?

This isn't some sinister plot, this is a rediculous response to some rediculous junk science. A study is released, intended to be reviewed by the scientific community, and the media picks up on the story and turns it into a full-blown scare. We saw it with Alar, with power transmission lines, and now with cell phones. But because people don't have the logical or scientific skill to determine the truth, they allow themselves to be scammed twice.

As a sidenote, those interested in such issues of Junk Science and how it's screwing you over should check out the book Gallileo's Revenge by Peter William Huber. It goes into considerable detail on how pseudo-scientific claims are exploited by lawyers and interests groups to serve their own policy purposes.

Sheesh life is a risk

[sstrick]

Using a cell phone might be dangerous. It might not. Research seems to indicate that it is not dangerous but research has been wrong before. In other words by using a mobile phone you are taking a risk.

You are also taking a risk crossing the road, eating your meals (in case you choke) and performing basically any act in your life. Get over it. I like using a cell phone so I am prepared to take this risk. This reminds me about an email I received today about how Americans (I am American) are not prepared to except the consequences of taking risks anymore and feel that everything is someone elses fault. Enjoy:

(note: I don't take any credit for this)

Let's see if I understand how America works lately . . .

If a woman burns her thighs on the hot coffee she was holding in her
lap while driving, she blames the restaurant

If your teen-age son kills himself, you blame the rock 'n' roll
music
or musician he liked.

If you smoke three packs a day for 40 years and die of lung cancer,
your family blames the tobacco company.

If your daughter gets pregnant by the football captain you
blame the school for poor sex education.

If your neighbor crashes into a tree while driving home drunk, you
blame the bartender.

If your cousin gets AIDS because the needle he used to shoot up with
heroin was dirty, you blame the government for not providing clean
ones.

If your grandchildren are brats without manners, you blame
television.

If a deranged madman shoots your friend, you blame the gun
manufacturer.

And if a crazed person breaks into the cockpit and tries to kill the
pilots at 35,000 feet, and the passengers kill him instead, the
mother
of the deceased blames the airline.

Chemical Manufacturer Patents "Snake Oil"

[tenzig_112]

A patent application for an oily substance harvested from snakes with the possible [but not legally definite] ability to cure ambiguous and undiagnosed illnesses has been filed with the United Sates Patent Office.

In spite of the fact that they make no claims that the oil is useful or necessary, they do claim patent rights on it and expect renumeration on all products pertaining to said patent.

The application appears to be valid and on its way to approval. That's fine with us as long as they stay away from our Zero Click Ordering patent.

Re:Well, wouldn't you?

[nick_davison]

Half of your customer base is completely paranoid that your product is crashing regularly, but they still insist on using your product.

Do you:

a) Do nothing, listen to them whine. b) "Fix" your product. Get sued when someone "discovers" that it isn't fixed. c) Create a New Technology version that will "protect" the people. If the harm still exists, you are now profiting TWICE on the paranoid people.

So, it looks like the IT industry is filtering in to the rest of the world then.

OTOH, the cigarette companies...

[The Monster]

...gave their customers the option of filtered cancer sticks decades ago.