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NYC Law Aims To Ban Cell Phones In Theatres
LunarFox writes: "This article on Wired says a New York City councilman is trying to ban cellphones in 'places of public performance'. It would be the first legislation of its kind, following the recent state-wide ban on cellphone use while driving. Wired mentions that actor Laurence Fishburne, in the middle of a Broadway performance, yelled to an audience member to "turn your f___ing phone off!" And here I thought I was the only one who didn't like hearing Flight of the Bumblebee as a ringtone."
This law should be inacted everywhere!!! Thats all i have to say about that...
100% Insightful
Specificly, those annoying 'tunes' that cell phones play... turn the F#$#$# things off. After all, people pay good money to enjoy such public performances, not listen to your phone. It's a shame that laws have to be passed to enforce what should just be common courtesy
Blender And Linux Fan
What else can I say? It's about time!
This rush to legislate morality is the same thing that brought us the DMCA, US PATRIOT, etc.
This is New York for crissakes. It will be upheld as much as the jay-walking laws.
Yeah, right.
This isn't exactly something that should be a law. It's like outlawing putting your elbows on the table,farting at the table, etc. It is simple bad manners that people need to realize. Maybe a sign 'please shut off your cell phones.' Alot of people just forget and alot of people just don't care. Fine. Use the ol' peer pressure to get them to realize that it is a damm good idea to turn off there cellphones. How much you want to bet that the person mr. fishbourne yelled at will never leave his/her cellphone on in a movie theater/play/whatever again? Than again, if I have to hear another goddam cellphone go off in a movie I just might have to kill someone. Nothing ruins a nice porn .. er movie flick than a cellphone going off.
The Time: December 18th, 2002
The Place: A theater in New York City
Gandalf the White: "I come back to you now..."
Some idiot's cell phone: RING RING RING!!!
Usher (to idiot): "You're under arrest."
Patrons: "Whoo-hoo!"
I mod down anyone who uses M$ in their posts. I like to live on the edge.
For Morpheus is the light and the way...
I can understand wishing to impose penalties on drivers who threaten the safety of others by devoting their attention to a cell phone. I don't think the law should be used to punish what are effectively breaches of etiquette, though. It seems like using a sledgehammer to kill an annoying fly.
Someday, you're going to die. Get over it.
When I went to see Storytelling, the new Todd Solondz movie, this one guy in the theater had his phone ring. He answered. Not in a hushed tone, and not to say anything like "I'm in a movie, can't talk" and hanging up.
He spent several minutes talking at a fairly audible volume saying things like "Nothing much, just watching a movie".
The audience was hissing at him, shushing him, and finally someone shouted "Would you please get off the fucking phone?"
The guy kept talking for another minute, then got off the phone, then took off. Needless to say, it fucked up that part of the movie pretty badly.
Because not enough people have the common courtesy to TURN THEIR PHONE OFF during movies and performances, perhaps a nice stiff fine of around 250 - 500 dollars per incident would keep things under control.
Banning cell phone use in cars is just stupid. Maybe it's because I'm from the bay area, but using a cell phone while driving is a god given right as far as I'm concerned, as long as you remember to pay full attention to the road. If they're going to ban cell phones while driving, they need to ban radios, conversations and other passengers altogether, especially children.
All of these can be more distracting than cell phones.
Some RIAA nut said "DMCA, that law should be enacted everywhere.", now look what happened.
I prefer Laurence's method. Group humiliation of stupid people is always entertaining.
Laws to enfore what should be etiquette? What's next? Laws to enforce morals? Oh wait...
Thats very CELLfish of them!
The film cells have a right to communicate!
New york, most crowded place on earth, has finally agreed that cell phones can be annoying in certain public places.
Why do you think these places are called "Auditoriums" if you can't hear (Latin "Audium")?
Damn cell phone junkies....
I don't know how much this irritates other people, but cell phones in theaters are the worst. I was out seeing Signs a few weeks ago and during some of the most suspensful scenes someone's cell phone would go off. Damnit I hate that. It just ruins the essence of the film.
Now this doesn't stop people from talking. Sitting behind me were 4 people, 3 girls and 1 guy. They wouldn't shut the hell up! I mean, an insightful or sarcastic comment every now and then is ok, but carrying on a conversation (and one that didn't have anything to do with the movie) is just down-right rude. I sure don't pay $9 to hear someone else talk about the itch that appeared after sleeping with a guy, or the test they cheated on in school. The solution: They should have a duct tape dispenser at the ticket-taker booth and every single person should have their mouths taped shut. There we go, a solution to all the problems.
While I agree it's rude to not put it on silent, this is a issues of manners and should NOT be regulated by law.
Des
As would be expected, most people vote yes, because they read the article and don't pay attention to the actual wording of the poll.
You crazy man? You piss off supahfly!
Some of the technological solutions offered last time this came up on Slashdot talked about cell phone jammers. If it's a civil offense, you can forget to turn your phone off and the worst you can happen is that you get fined. If you are getting jammed, the worst that can happen is that you can't call 911 when you have to, then your family sues the state government for damages after you die.
If you really need your phone, then your company won't mind sucking up the fines when you're called back to the server farm or hospital or wherever you're needed.
"Einstein argued that [...] God is not capricious or arbitrary. No such faith comforts the software engineer." ~ Brooks
Ban those whining, crying babies, those are more annoying.
Only in America would good manners be supplanted by a legal statute...
"Wired mentions that actor Laurence Fishburne, in the middle of a Broadway performance, yelled to an audience member to 'turn your f___ing phone off!'"
I wish I was there for that...
Patrons have the right to have their mobile telephones/pagers on in this theater as long as they agree that other patron have the right to pour Coke (or similar) over the phone users head
Happy all round!!
Burma?
I want a law passed in California making it illegal not to shoot the assholes who drive and talk at the same time.
Very simple way to fix this without wasting a legislators (read MY TAX $) time.
You own a theater. You make a rule (not a law) that says.: NO CELL PHONES, BEEPERS, ET AL ALLOWED.
I really don't see why the government needs to be involved here. Cell phones in cars, dangerous, cell phones in theaters annoying. Let the theater owners deal with this.
Or have Vin Diesel act in a B'Way show and have him beat the shit out of the first hickory assed scumbag who gets a phone call. Suddenly cell phone useage in a Theater will seem like a bad idea.
This
... FAA regulations prohibit the use of cell phones while in flight.
"Let's Roll", anyone?
Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
A law forbidding talking during
performance?
The lawmakers have nothing better to do?
This is not even second-hand smoking - so
if I, hypothetically, want to open
a theatre where you are allowed to talk
on the cellphone?
Sheesh...
Considered harmful.
Faraday cage.
This ever came to New York----- "Hey! Turn your f____ing phone ON!!!!"
I've been to performances (typically music concerts) where the ticket has has small print regarding the prohibition of cameras, recording devices etc. I've always presumed that those caught with them get bounced by the security personnel...
It strikes me that the venues could ban cellphones in a similar way. Have a cellphone with you that you've left on and somebody rings you on? Fine, meet the bouncers - Mr XXY and Mr XXXY, who will now proceed to take you and your cellphone outside so you can take your call. Want to go back in again? Sir, didn't you read the smallprint on your ticket/ticket holder?
One day, a phone rings and it was the scooby doo theme, my buddy next to me says "FAAAAG!!!" and the whole class bursts out laughing. The next day another phone rings and I yell "FAAAAAAG!!!". This went on for about two weeks until everyone got the picture: Turn your phone off or the entire class is going to laugh at you and call you a fag.
Social pressure really worked in this case, people started using vibrate mode, and it was a good thing.
So to Laurence Fishburne: way to go!
(now I know someone is going to attack with some PC crap about the word fag -- get over yourself, that was what really happened, and it was funny, and I dont wanna hear it :)
Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley
In PA the drivers are bad enough without cell phones if their going to do this kind of legislation it should be that you can drive with a hands free set. I can't even recall how many times I've had a near miss cause some moron lost control of his vehicle or tried to merge into me while driving and talking with a phone. As for public theaters the last several movies I went to there were at least one couple talking to each other and one ring. If were going to ban phone in theaters we need to make a law aginst talking. Theres nothing more annoying than two elderly people going back in forth "What did he say!" "Whats going on, I'm lost?" "Who is that I haven't seen them in any movies before"
I mean really, wouldn't it be much better if we had some sort of secret vigilante organization. They could have like orbital rail guns or uzi-toting children as their instruments of fear.
In all seriousness, though, it's certainly better than putting your theater in a faraday cage.
I had to sit through a showing of "Cast Away" where 3 families brought their kids, 2 of them would take turns crying through the movie, and the 3rd proceeded to run up and down the aisles.
Ushers were called in twice, chastised the families, but refused to bounce them.
Or how about being in an audience with a buncha rowdy teens who like to talk back to the screen?
So tell me... will the US Government protect me from screaming children by allowing me to call the police on them during the show?
What's next, is the US Government going to force me to watch the show? Will a quiz be given afterwards to confirm that I followed the letter of the theaters EULA?
Geez people... They've already got cellphone jammers, if the theater has such a problem with it, buy them and use them... if they're afraid that they'll accidentally jam a doctor's pager from getting a message about a heart attack patient, then DON'T USE THEM and pay more for your ushers to kick them out... But stop with the stupid laws already!
What some people don't understand is that sometimes people NEED to leave their cellphone on. For example, my mother, who cares for the handicapped, has her cellphone on WHEREVER she goes. It's programmed so that even if the ringer is turned off, a call identified as being from her work will still ring. This is so that in case of emergency at her work, she will be always available to respond.
This came up a few months ago while she was at the theatre. When one of the residents at the home she works at pitched a fit and seriously injured one of the employees, and she was needed to come in to replace the employee and secure the residence. When she was called, the people in the theatre started giving her a lot of grief, and after a few quick attempts to explain the situation and apologize, she had to leave. She was totally embarassed, and slightly frightened for her safety, but it's a necissary evil.
For those who might ask "What about vibrate mode?", it doesn't work very well well you're female and the phone is in your purse.
Let's not forget about the doctors and nurses and emergency workers when we're about to lay into users of these ringing cell phones.
They should ban fat people first who block out the whole theater's view. Cell phones are just a momentary distraction, whereas that fat lady in front of you blocks out the whole movie the whole time! And don't even get me started on those girls who, like, talk, like the whole time, ya know?, and ... get the picture? what-ever.
I'm the Devil the Windows users warned you about.
although the word "fucking" was spelled out in the Wired article, it was edited out in the Slashdot post.
???
This is a case where "the market" can regulate itself; theatres which strictly enforce bans on audible phones and beepers will do better than ones which don't.
It's also a case where social pressures (such as being yelled at by actors) is probably sufficient without adding even more trivial cases to an overloaded judiciary system.
You know what I think we should do about cellular phones in public...
(ba-da-da-ba-da-da-ba-da-da-ba-BO-NAN-ZA!!)
Oh, excuse me for a second.
Hey, what's up?
Naw, I'm just posting on Slashdot.
Slashdot. You know. It's like, a big web site thingy. People post comments and stuff. It's kind of like the Roman senate if the Roman senate had been populated by thirty thousand incensed midgets.
Yeah, I know. I TOTALLY get that all the time.
Cell phones. We're talking about cellular phones in public places.
I *KNOW*! That TOTALLY drives me insane. Like, when you're talking to someone and their phone rings and they start talking on their phone instead of to you?
Totally. So, what's up with you? How's it going....
That seems like a better idea to me than legislation. People will always forget to turn off their cells.
And another point: I have no more sympathy for cell-using moviegoers than the next Slashdotter. But art galleries and libraries? If quiet conversation with a *live* person is acceptable there, why can't you talk with a *distant* person quietly? For people who are too loud (over cell phone or not) these places should already have rules.
Its funny how many people have vibrate functions on their cellphone and STILL have it ringing like a banshee in the most inopportune times. I only have my cellphone on ring when I'm in the car. All other times, I let it buzz me.
I'd leave the show and demand my money back. I'm paying for an enjoyable movie experience, and if the theatre can't deliver, they should reap the consequences.
Talking during the movies - they should issue cluesticks specifically for beating the crap out of these kinds of people...
While they're at it, they should pass a law banning the expansion of cellular service to subway tunnels.
One of the saving graces of the NYC subway is that, for the most part, people pretty much shut the fuck up. Unfortunately, cellular companies are currently researching the economical benefits of expanding service to the underground. Combine cramped quarters with non-stop blabber and I fear everybody might turn into Colin Furgeson.
Nuff said, esp all those stupid kids in the movie theaters who have the gall to ANSWER the phone and TALK for 10 mins! Kick them out and fine them broke as shit so they can't see any more movies.
Seems to me this is not legislating morality at all. It's legislating what people can or cannot do in a public place. It has nothing to do with morality, but everything to do with people in large groups being able to get along without wringing each other's necks.
I'm adamantly opposed to DMCA, US Patriot, etc, but comparing those two misguided pieces of legislation to a simple prohibition in one city agains the use of cell phones in theaters is pretty silly.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
Are you that daft? It's their own damn fault! If they dont have common sense, or cant follow the law, boom! $500 fine! Bet they dont do it again!
It's pretty simple actually. There are perhaps eleven thousand people in the U.S.A. that are important enough to have to take a call whereever and whenever. But the rest of people don't rate and have no business taking a call in a theatre, a resturaunt, or even in the grocery. It's funny but it used to be that the ones who carried pagers in the 80's were either physicians, corporate captains or drug dealers. Then when I was an undergrad everyone had pagers. Now when I walk through campus on the way to the hospital or my lab EVERYONE is talking on cell phones constantly. Who are they talking to? Even in a history class I was sitting in on recently had a student who actually took a call while in class! I was flabbergasted as you would be crucified if that happened in any of my medical school classes or in any of my PhD coursework. But my friend teaching the history class says it happens from time to time.
We have become amazingly selfish as a nation and it is being reflected in everything from speeding through neighborhoods, to taking phone calls in inappropriate places to feeling justified in taking that extra half hour for lunch on company time. (Don't forget all of those "first post" punks. Nobody cares. You are just noise to be filtered through.) Because of this general societal disregard that some folks have, we have to start enforcing certain issues that should be checked due to a sense of shame that seems to be lacking. Ergo, speedbumps in neighborhoods to slow people down and because our hospital had problems with employees who were billing the hospital for extra time around lunch and in the mornings and evenings, time clocks that check you in and out were implemented. As for cell phones? We also have problems with cell phones in hospitals as they can disrupt certain electronic equipment being used for patient care. But do people care? No. We have signs up all over the place saying please do not use your cell phone, but folks simply ignore it. Therefore, could the solution here simply be cell free zones that are electronically enforced? They have them in resturaunts in Japan after all. This way no new laws need to be created or enforced and it would probably be cheaper to proactively block the signals.
Visit Jonesblog and say hello.
While I agree with the law about not talking while driving (it's already been proven a hazard many times over), this other law is just plain stupid.
If multiplexes are too damn cheap to pay for their own security, then what the hell are they going to do? Call the NYPD every time some jackass who's talking on their phone refuses to leave?
I think the NYPD is a bit too busy to be bothering with this, but then again, they went and collected a mis-shipped prototype WebTV for MS, so maybe they wouldn't mind...
I work at a video store that Laurence Fishburne used to come to when he was filming Matrix 2+3 here in Sydney. One time he came in and hired... The Matrix!! Does that make Warner Bros the cheapest distributor on the planet?? Y'reckon they would've given him his own copy. Sheesh.
He also had over $100 in late fees which he paid off in one go and without complaint. An example to you fee-dodging scumbags everywhere...
And hats off to him for having a go at the guy who didn't turn off his mobile phone. Not turning your phone off/down in the movies/theatre/lecture is the kind of thing that needs to be recognised as socially unacceptable, not illegal.
---
Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
I don't think the city should be making laws about this. Theaters are private property and it should be up to the property owners to make rules about cellphone usage, etc. If the owners of the theater are ok with people using cellphones, it is none of the city's business.
Personally, I hate idiots using cellphones during performances and would make an effort to support theaters which ban their use over other theaters. However, I just don't see this as being part of the governments jursidiction.
Mmmm.. Donuts
And then Flight of the Bumblebee started up.
Everyone cringed, because it was already muffled - it was in somebody's handbag, so the audience knew they'd have to suffer while the guilty party furiously dug around for it, and that it would get worse (i.e. LOUDER) when they took it out to shut it off.
There was a deep gruff voice from the back:
"Let it ring. So I can find you."
It got shut off pretty quick.
Car Guys on public radio wanted to sell a bumper sticker with:
"Would You Drive Better If I Crammed That Cell Phone Up Your Tailpipe?"
Marketing gurus thought better and finally published the boring
"Drive Now, Talk Later"
Here's hoping that a lighting technician shone a big spotlight on the dufus as well.
CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
Admittedly I haven't read up on this in detail, but is there any exceptions set in place for doctors, network admins*, and other jobs where being on call 24 hours a day is extremely important? I mean if these people want to go to a movie or a broadway show they should be able to like everyone else. I know that paging is a far better idea and probably most doctors stick with those, but there's got to be some jobs out there where having a cell phone active all the time is a requirement. *: Assuming network admins get away from the computers and out into that big scary world once in a while :)
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
It seems to me that instead of government intervention in this matter, the theatres themselves should invest in some sort of cell phone jamming technology. Technology like this is already out in Hong Kong so why doesn't the US invest in something similar to this?l egacy=c net
http://news.com.com/2100-1033-276128.html?
Any chance that "place of public performance" might include press conferences? I've heard more Nokia rings on CNN Breaking News than I have in movie theatres.
-- The strangest things seem suddenly routine - Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Equally strange would be banning the act of talking to someone via cell phone illegal? Hell, I could just stick my thumb in my ear and point my pinky at my mouth and start babbling loudly. That would be even more annoying than someone talking loudly into a cell phone? Should we make being annoying illegal, too?
Dumb law, dumb idea. I don't know why I'm even commenting on this.
<a href="http://www.joblessjimmy.com">Work is dumb and so is Jobless Jimmy.</a>
Movie: "There is one thing. If you can find your minor..."
RING RING RING
Idiot answers his phone and start talking...not in a wisper either!
Me: "You f*cking moron. Turn off your f*cking cellphone before I come down there and stuff the stale movie popcorn down your throat and choke you to death! This movie isn't XxX you idiot...you have to actually listen to the movie to get it!"
Audience cheers as moron leaves theater.
Atleast thats how I remember it. I hate more legislation for something that should just be common courtesy, but at the same time I like to enjoy my performances. Fine these @$$holes $500 an offense...see how fast they turn them off.
Hard work usually pays off over time, but procrastination pays off now.
Kim Kuo, a spokeswoman for the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, said the industry preferred educating people on cell-phone etiquette than slapping them with fines.
I don't konw, $50 sounds like a pretty cheap education for those clueless enough to carry a live cell phone into a theater.
Someone you trust is one of us.
Worst they can do to trangressors is kick them out of the theater. For that to be effective they will need a lot more people keeping watch.
Or maybe the government should make sign-gate licenses legal? So when you go in you automatically agree to a contract displayed on a sign where you promise to pay a fine for using your cell phone? This seems a lot more dangerous to me.
It's a hell of a lot more annoying than cell phones in theater.
Democracy Now! - your daily, uncensored, corporate-free
...a cellphone ringer going off, or Laurence Fishburne yelling "Turn your f__king phone off!". I'd have to say I'd be shaking in my boots after hearing the latter.
But seriously, I don't see a problem a person having a cellphone on in the theatre, just as long as the ringer is off, and that the person does not answer it within the movie/performance. As a person who understands the restrictions of an on-call policy, I look at restricions such as this as throwing the baby out with the bathwater. People such as I would be unnecessarily restricted from public performances for a week or more, depending on how your company handles on-call. I personally followed an ettiquite of turning off the ringer, yet leaving the phone on to see if an important call comes in. Perhaps a better idea than banning is to fine those who disturb a performance whether by ringer or phone conversation, leaving the type of fine up to the theatre.
I am MuchTall
This is why we need to lift the ban on human cloning. We need a 'Laurence Fishburne' in every theater!
In movie theaters, just a "turn your fucking phone off" courtesy message right after the FBI warning should do the trick.
Do I have to think of everything??
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
What if there was a Bomb inside the theatre and someone wanted to call in to inform the people there ? Wouldnt this law prevent their freedom to communicate - save lives ? Its silly to ban all cell phones when there are versions with the silent ringer option.
Siggy Say, Siggy Do
Maybe "Morpheus" was extra sensitive to the phones after filming two more Matrix movies. I'd imagine the whole "Tank we need you to beam us out of here again!" would get a little old.
so how are the authorities going to enforce this? send a cop to every movie screen in town? i don't think so...
I don't know about the rest of you, but I sure as hell don't want the Government to tell me where and/or when I can use a cell phone (I don't have one, but that's beside the point). It's not the Government's place to tell people if they can use their cell phone in a public place. Public. If it's a private place and the owner says No Cellphones, that's their choice...but for a public place the Government wants to regulate cell phone usage. How strange.
--Reverend Raven
Desperate days demand dire deeds.
What's the basis of the law? What right does the government have to say that you can't have a phone ring in the theatre? Of all places, NYC is going to pass a law saying it's illegal to be rude? Come on. It's the god given right of every New Yorker to be rude. They take great pride in that.
Sure it's inconvenient, but since when is that a basis for making something illegal? Cell phones in cars is distracting and can be considered a safety hazard. Smoking in public areas could also be considered a safety hazard. Talking in a theatre is not illegal. Having horrible body odor is not illegal. I honestly do not think this law is constitutional. If a theatre wants to pass a rule saying that they can refuse service to anyone with a cell phone or ban you from the theatre for cell phone use, that is their business. Just imagine the precedent this would set if rudeness can be fined.
... if 'places of public performance' includes also street performances :)
Peer pressure is much more effective than legislation.
What's next? Laws banning people from talking during a movie? Cruching on popcorn? Getting up to go to the bathroom?
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
Where a company could be approved for a cell phone blocker.. Let financial evolution decide where it belongs and where it doesn't, a requirement would be the business's would have to have a certain minimum sized sign out front stating the blocker is in service, and those who can't live without cellphones wouldn't go there, and those who can't stand them would go. Let the customers dollar decide.
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
There's a lot of piss and moan going on about this right now so let me clear this up (I know it's been mentioned, but people don't often see things deep in the threads and make moronic comments anyways)
Cell phone use in cars is not illegal in New York state. I should know. I drive cars in New York State.
It's the *handset*. If you get a handsfree unit (indeed...it is law that all phones come with a handsfree unit in this state. typically they give you a coupon to send for one.) It's the hand off the wheel, not the conversation/distraction factor....and of course the looking for the phone when it rings (handfree makes it easy to answer and something you can learn to do without looking--like skipping tracks on the CD player).
Besides. I like having the phone in a handsfree cradle because that keeps it charged (even in the limited amount of time i spend in the car) and I always know where it is when I am getting out of the car and need to make sure I have it, etc. Makes things easier and less distracting..
this is a good thing...especially around here, high school students get into accidents involving cell phones because they're more inexperienced at driving and the extra distraction puts them over a threshold in an emergency situation...actually I think looking for the phone/getting it out of my pocket is the hardest part...
oh yeah. You can talk at stoplights and while pulled over, and for thirty seconds under any circumstances before a ticket can be given. Very few emergencies need more than thirty seconds..
so that's the scoop on cell phones in cars in new york so COOL IT
Brian
Strobe light pin
I'm a fairly calm man. Seeing a fucking STROBE LIGHT on this kids EAR in a DARK THEATER was tantamount to provoking me to commit murder. I'm glad I was armed, because it encouraged me to show restraint [try it; you'll realize why]. Thankfully the kids mother heard all the people complaining and confiscated it eventually. Snide comments and shouting at the little bastard did nothing.
- Z
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Can you think of ten different ways to solve the same problem without invoking the violence of the state? Here's one to prime your pump: charge an extra $5 for a "cellphone ticket." If you want to enter the theatre with a cellphone, you have to pay the cellphone ticket price. Okay, so I can tell that your pump needs extra priming, so here's another one: before beginning the performance, the stage manager goes out on stage and says "Hi. We understand that some people simply CANNOT turn their cellphones off. If your cellphone goes off, you are obviously going to be in such a hurry to get somewhere that you'll need a police escort. So if we hear a cellphone, we're going to call the police for your escort. Enjoy the performance!"
Don't piss off The Angry Economist
If there's one thing that Cartoons and Westerns taught me... It's that patrons dump their weapons at the door when patronizing their favorite bars. Why not the same for all electronics that can beep?
:)
SOLUTION
Number one, all such devices would be collected at entry and each cell phone gets a sticker with the same bar code that's on the user's ticket stub. (Maybe any cheap theater, one that isn't cool enough to be a theaTRE, would just ban such devices, period.)
Step two: Anyone caught sneaking one in, whether it stays silent or not, would be a mandatory fine of $250 to the theatre. (Deterrant)
Number three, if you do sneak in a device but it does Beep, the fine is also $250. If the user doesn't answer the beeps, they might keep going thus making it obvious whose it is. If they reach to stop it, that would help show the culprit, also
"But I'm sorry, we are REQUIRED by the city to collect the fine," the director or owner would say.
The devices would be digital watches, cell phones, pagers, beepers, PDAs, laptops, and anything else a patron might bring (REMEMBER that each can also elect to NOT bring any of that crap into the building.)
Also, a lot of theaters aren't movie cinemas but dramas. So in terms of live theater, it is NOT fun (in ANY level of performance) to have the ambience "interrupted". I don't know who gets screwed more. The actor gets screwed, the audience is screwed, the theather company is screwed. The $250 would help screw the theater company less, although audience and actors still won't be too happy. Now the theater wouldn't have the balls to threaten their patrons with fines on their own (as obviously evidenced in any theater/cinema I've been), so that is where the government steps in.
AND ANYWAY I imagine that after a bunch of these incidents, in 5 years, leaving electroshit et al at home would become second nature.
Alternatively, a new law could require noise chips installed in everything that would be told by the building to operate in Silent mode.
Cover your eyes and click this link!
I understand she's a health care provider and she (along with firefighters, doctors, etc.) need to stay in communication. Put it on vibrate and carry it on your person, not in your purse. Duh. Even better, get someone to cover for you for a couple of hours.
In any case, when you get such a call in the theater, step into the lobby and call the back. Don't fucking answer your phone in the theater. Sheesh.
On military bases, there are alert crews that are on standby to bomb the shit out of Russia or Iraq or whoever. They go to the arcade, movie theatre, and whatnot when they're on standby. In the theatre there are flashing alert lights that come on in case of an alert. They get up and run to the nearest exit. Interruption in movie is maybe 15-30 seconds.
has the wide spreading presence of home theatre experiences caused people to value less going out to a public venue to see a show turning them into the idiots in quesion?
Chicken meet Egg. Egg meet chicken.
What about those wooden panels that contain magnetic material that block cell phone transmissions developed by Hideo Oka? As long as there are signs that clearly state that cell phones are useless within the confines of the theater and maybe an agreement on the back of each ticket all our problems are solved.
Hell, if your life is so damn important that you have to be able to ruin my trip to the movies with your noise then maybe you shouldn't be wasting your time in the theater in the first place...
Thog: We've invented the wheel, the axe, and now Glogh has learned to ride a wheel and hit people with his axe, so we have our first policeman. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what kind of activities Glogh should police?
... forceful with me, and with my father dead and no husband to defend me, they get away with it. If Glogh doesn't chop their heads off, I may have to do it myself.
Srak: I'm an old man, and I can't protect the grain silo from mischevious kids. Glogh should chase down kids and take them to their parents to be taught to work for their food.
Thog: Good suggestion. Anyone else?
Gliza: Some of the men in town have been
Thog [sweating]: Duely noted! Next?
Wheez: I don't like the hat Srak wears when we're in the amphetheater listening to the drummers. I can't see the drummers if I sit behind him. I think Glogh should hit him if he doesn't quit.
Thog: Why don't you just tell him yourself?
Wheez: He's a public nuisance, it's a public problem!
Gliza: It doesn't bother me.
Glogh: Me either.
Thog: Now now, Wheez has a point. Srak has been quite a nuisance since he became Grain Master. I sometimes think he wears that hat at drum shows, just so we know he's there and that HE controls the GRAIN.
Wheez: Yeah! And I've seen him riding a wheel with that hat on, grinning like an idiot, and nearly running me over! Riding a wheel is hard enough as it is without something on his head confusing him.
[The cave people argue into the night, finally passing a law against wearing hats while riding a wheel or watching a performance. Srak is convicted retroactively, and Wheez and Thog take over control of the grain silo.
I agree with you, but I would point out that there is absolutely zero evidence that 1) cellphone use causes accidents, 2) that there aren't other activities of a similar nature which cause more accidents which should be outlawed first (like smoking in your car!), 3) that if there is indeed a problem, that it won't go away, and 4) that requiring headsets is any safer.
It's just a stupid, stupid law which reflects absolutely no thought on the part of legislators -- but did that surprise you?
-russ
Don't piss off The Angry Economist
Nothing will stop these pretentious clowns. Another unenforced law on the books. Not a day goes by I don't see Soccer-Mommy barreling down the road with the phone glued to her ear, or Mr Civil servant in the big old SUV jabbering away. Coppers don't give a rat spit.
And I live in a town of 3000. Like what the smeg could these people have to talk about, that hasn't already been relayed across the back fence the previous afternoon?
I say jam the signal. Might make a short term bundle selling those fakey signal enhancer dohickeys to the clowns.
Let technology serve.
One of you geniuses just invent a similar-sized device that emits just enough EMP to fry phones, say, within a three foot radius. It only has to work once.
Minimal collatoral damage; everybody's happy.
... then only criminals will have cell phones in theaters. :)
Which fact he might well not have been aware of. People talking on cell phones have an interesting tendency to block things out. The lose audio feedback, so they talk too loud. And of course they don't hear people hissing at them. It might be similar to the way people shout when someone tries to converse with them while they're wear enclosed earphones, but I could be wrong about that.
Well, I turn mine off, but mainly because I don't want my own movie experience interrupted. I think it's enough to require people to set their phones to vibrate, and to leave the theater when they take a call. Let's have a little tolerance for doctors, elevator repairers, and other folks who'd never get to go out if it meant going out of contact.And yes, fines seem to be needed to get people's attention. But let's set them just high enough to do so. We already have too many laws that express more anger than sense.
No, it's based on the same issue blotting-out issue I just talked about. Plus, talking to somebody who's not in the car is much more distracting than talking with a passenger. A passenger knows enough not to say, "Hello, are you still there," when something unexpected happens and you need all your attention on the road.In fact, I was nearly run down the other day by somebody on a cell. She was moving at slow speed through a parking lot, so it wasn't a matter of control. She was just giving too much attention to her conversation, and not enough to all the pedestrians swarming around her.
Seriously, here we have people who whine about:
(a) A national ID card which can track their every movement...
(b) People who bitch because spam company X can trade their information with everyone willing to pay the right price...
(c) People who complain about the concept of a monitoring chip of any kind being inserted into their body/computer/property...
And YET, they're in risk of being forced to not be contacted in the same way that gives most of us reason and cause to get out of the home/office, which is to GET THE HELL OUT OF THE HOME/OFFICE!!! And STILL they bitch...
If you are THAT goddamnned stupid, then PLEASE... Continue to use your precious cellular phone, becase whatever brain tumors they could possibly give you would be a definate improvement on your collective intelligence...
And this is coming from someone who, after letting a wired line bill lapse, is forced to use one...
But seriously, if you look at it, the devices such as wireless modems, cel phones, satellite modem uplinks et al, that everyone is claiming to denote some form of freedom, the truth is, they don't... How many here have been able to relax without the phone ringing, or without an IM window popping up, or just for a day going without having SOME form of electronic communications? Without a beer ad, even? That is the electronic tether of which I speak... No matter where you are, you cannot go, cannot live, cannot think without some form of open ended communication interfering with the minute amount of freedom FROM noise or interferance that you once came to expect? Or, more appropriately, those of you with lovers, how often did you get to go without intimate interferance because someone tried asking you "R U on CS now?" while you were in the act?
Not very often, I bet...
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
I hate the phone to begin with. I hate the ringing of mobile phones in theaters enough to punch the offender in the neck. Don't get me started on repeat offenders.
That said, I really do not think this should be law. I'm honestly shocked at the number of people here that have come out in favor of this. It is literally nothing less than legislating manners. It's the height of Political Correctness (I can only hope it's the height, anyway). But now, instead of legislating offensive speech/thought/action, it's legislating annoying speech/thought/action.
Who is hurt here? Who is the victim? So you lose a couple seconds to your own inability to ignore distractions. Two hour movie. $8.50. What... $0.30 total loss? Less if you just get over it. Any more is your own fault for not being able to let go of the minor annoyances.
I will agree that mobile phones ringing in the theater is annoying as hell. I'll further that by saying that bringing small children to theaters is also annoying as hell, if not more so. It's simply not appropriate due to their inability to shut up or sit still. I just think that making it illegal is going too far.
] D
Isn't there a way to shield calls from entering buildings? I hate when people take phone calls in theatres as much as anyone else, but even worse is if my tax dollars go to creating laws such as this and enforcing it. The carphone issue is legitimate because there's at least a factor of saving lives.
has already banned smoking in air-conditioned public places for a long time, and has recently banned the use of handphones in cinemas as well.
I am willing to bet that 80% of people innocently forget to turn there phone off or to vibrate, 15% say they never receive phone calls and would say "what is the chance of receiving a phone call during the movie". The last 5% of peope lack common sense, and I doubt a law will help these people find it.
That's right, wanna-be's. If you think you're such a big shot as to need to do business in your car, fine, do what a real big shot does. Hire a fscking driver to drive the car while you sit in the back and make all the phone calls you want. The megacorp where I formerly worked actually provided chauffeured company limosines for all managers starting at the executive director level (ED was one level below VP, so ED's were generally in charge of a few hundred people). They were wise to do that.
At the time I thought it was a ridiculous perk to make the mucky-mucks feel important. Looking back, I understand it a lot better. The ED types really did have to take 7am conference calls while en route to work, entertain visitors on the way to and from the airport, etc. The limos really let the company get more work out of the ED's and probably saved a bunch of road accidents. When the company saw that its execs needed to take meetings in the car, they did it the right way and there was nothing pretentious about it. It's the pseudo-execs who insist on endangering traffic because they're not important enough to rate getting a car with a driver who are pretentious. If your time isn't so valuable that it's worth your company's while to supply you with a driver, then you can afford to pull over or stay in the office when you make your phone calls.
Note, I don't advocate a total ban on using the phone while driving, since a short call to let someone know where you are doesn't suck your mind away from the road. I'd get rid of the handsfree/non-handsfree distinction and instead make it a violation for a driver to be on the phone more than 2 minutes continuously while the car is moving. An accident where cell tower records show the driver was on the phone more than 2 minutes should be treated similarly to DWI, since accident statistics show cell phone use and drinking are comparably dangerous.
So they're gonna put train tracks in space?
People with an enhanced sense of entitlement (which justifies their right to interrupt your entertainment) likely consider themselves a couple of notches higher on the IQ scale. Rather than getting mad at them, cheerfully offer to help them set their overly-complex phones on vibrate mode. If they have time in their busy schedules and they have a Nokia phone, offer to help them change the d*mned default ring, too...
:)
Granted, I've been informed that a significant segment of the fairer sex often wears clothing such that it's impossible to directly attach a cell phone (i.e., no pockets or belt), thus making vibrate mode useless. I don't have an helpful advice on this one. Maybe a tiny bluetooth vibra-call device you can discretely attach to another personal accessory...
-Scott Hutton
A simple layer of copper screening applied to the interior of the theater, (under the wallpaper or behind the wallboard,) would solve the problem in a passive, legal, inexpensive, and foolproof way. Here's a link to an article that mentions it, look all the way at the end. You can bring your phone in, it just won't ring.
Rather than passing laws to deal with a problem of public nuisance like this, why not rely on markets instead? Most movie theaters and play houses I've been in have strict guidelines governing the use of cell phones, pagers, etc. If you don't like the way in which matters of public decorum are governed at a public performance, either make your voice heard by complaining to management, or simply patronize a different business.
The pomposity of the professor is inversely proportional to the difficulty and importance of the subject being taught.
if people would STFU in general when in any theater. Be it movie or stage. I also can't stand the people that stink up my air with their gigantic pickle. And the slurping noises they make constantly on that pickle, and their kid kicking the hell out of my chair whenever a not-for-kiddies scene appears on the screen (which they should probably not have taken their kids to see ANYWAY!)I could go on.. ;)
The only voices I should hear in a theater.... Are the ones in my own head
All I have to say, is that if Lawrence Fishburn personally told me to turn my f-ing phone off, i'd f-ing crap my f-ing pants and be very very terrified. then i'd rave to my friends about how it was the most realistic performance i'd ever seen.
In the last year, I've have a number of surreal incidents brought about by the fact that I didn't have a cell phone with me, kept it turned off if I did, or asked other people the seemingly obvious questions about why they are bothering with a cell phone instead of ignoring their caller.
I do own a cell phone. I reluctantly bought one for my wife and I only because we had a child. Two people, not counting myself have my phone number: My wife and my father (well 3 if you count my mom). Usually I don't bring the phone with me, unless I am expecting to hear something specific from my wife. And even then, I will *never* bother to take or make a call while driving, and my wife knows that. (What's the point of a having a super-performance car if you're not dedicated to driving it?)
People are amazed to find out I own a phone but don't have it with me, and that I could care less. I would swear that it is becoming a status thing to not have to immediately answer to anyone who calls you -- rather they have to wait for you to contact them at your convienence. The expressions I see on people's faces after questioning why they let someone else interrupt them are priceless. It's as if they never realized it until just now...
What's happened here? Are we now all beholdend to answer someone and anyone's call at any hour of the day? Sorry, but that's a quick way to lead a high stress life. What about time and place that is our own? Did people just give that up without realizing the price paid?
Sure, other people have more ligitemate callers and calls to make --- but really, are they all necessary? or are we just conditioned to talk on the phone because it's there? I'll bet most people can't see or admit to themselves that their calls are alot more noise and less signal then they'd like to think... i.e. many of their calls could be eliminated and they wouldn't be any worse off.
Must all calls allways be answered? Does that mean everyone calling is more important than you are?
With more and more cell phones being bluetooth enabled, how hard would it be to integrate some sort of "ringer off" message that went out to all cell phones in the area? That way, anywhere that thought it required quietness could easily turn off the ringer... This would be somewhat expensive, but bluetooth hardware is supposed to be cheap...
Your phone could have a setting to automatically accept the ringer off command, or promt you if you chose... There would still be assholes, but you wouldn't have the "oops I forgot to turn the ringer off" syndrome.
I vote for a box to make cell phones ring as you enter an establishment, so that whoever is at the door can hand out a clue.
In movie theaters, you could put up a "have you turned off the ringer on your cell phone?" slide, and then make the things ring. Do this 4 or 5 times before the previews, etc., start.
Another alternative is to actually put a *cell* in the theater, and give it a $50 call termination/origination fee. 8-).
-- Terry
I don't think it'd be practical to ban somebody from a particularly busy theater.
But there is an easy, self-enforcing, non-technical solution to the problem. When the US Supreme Court ruled flag burning constitutionally-protected free speech, one state (Mississippi, IIRC) had a creative solution. Since the state couldn't enforce any laws prohibiting burning the flag, they simply passed a law stating that the maxiumum penalty would be US$25 for assulting someone who was in the process of burining a flag. I would happily pay $25 to be able to vent my frutstration on some jackass who leaves his cellphone on in the theater.
Help save the critically endangered Blue Iguana
One of the things I kept reading as an application for Bluetooth, when it was still totally vaporware, was that people could set up "no-phone zones" wherein any phone in the area would just shut off, or go to vibrate mode, or whatever.
I'm guessing no one actually made that happen, though. I have a bluetooth phone now, and the manual doesn't say anything about that. Would be nice though eh?
who you are? and of what you are?
If you're a fag, There's no reason not to be proud of it. If someone calls you a fag, a real quick "So?" will usually shut them the fuck up. Same with "Nigger", Spic, WOP. People are just not secure enough about who & what they are. So all you "Niggers", "Fags", "WOPs", "Spics", etc...be proud of what you are.
Ah, so you're opposed to the presence of states in general? Are you an anarchist, a libertarian, or just someone who believes that any form of collective control is evil? Or are you unopposed to government, so long as it doesn't pass laws (therefore rendering it something other than a government)?
I agree that there are other more imaginative ways to get people to turn off their cellphones in the movie theater. But nobody seems to have come up with one, do they? This isn't the massive cohersive force of the state being brought to bear on poor, defenseless promoters of free thought. It's just people in one municipality saying "enough" and telling cellphone abusers that they need to stop.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
Instead of allowing cell phones, why not just effectively jam cell phone signals from coming in our out of the theatre? I live in a basement apartment in a crappy building and I have terrible cell phone reception. Surely the theatres can set up some sort of blackout zone (ie. using E-M interference).
And for those that argue that some people might need their cell phones for emergencies, I say this: what the eff did these people do 10 years ago when people didn't have cell phones? Surely they can last 2 hours without cell phone service. For most people, cell phones are a luxury and not a necessity. Then if you want cell phone service during a movie, go to a crappy theatre. I'll be going to the ones that jam cell service so I can get some peace and quiet.
----- rL
Theater owners already have this ban. Doesn't seem to help a lot. What are the employees supposed to do, escort every abuser out of the theater? If theaters have to pay their people enough to handle that kind of thing, movie tickets are gonna get very expensive.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Just block the cellular signals like microwaves block those harmful waves from frying your brain.
A wire mesh with holes smaller than the wavelength of cell phones will entirely block all signals.
It can be added inside insulation, or even around the outside of the buildingn with minimal asthetic intrusion.
I'm so glad I paid attention in E & M.
except that it is probably illegal. Just build in a nice lead lining to block out those annoying cell signals. If you are expecting an important call (or are a doctor on call or something), then don't go to a theatre.
Hmm, maybe just require people to check all electronic equipment at the door. THis would take longer, but it would certainly get rid of the cell phone problem (and the bootleg problem, which we know costs the movie industry billions of dollars a year), and it could also increase security. Aren't theater bombings somewhat popular in other parts of the world?
Yes, I'm being serious. Things like phones going off in theatres only happens because WE allow it. If we start beating the fuck out of these people and smashing their phones, maybe people will think twice about bring a cell phone into a theatre.
but the use of cell phones in subway trains might increase the odds of cancer among users if the small amount of radiation released from each phone bounces off of the trail walls (which they are looking into)
Your mother implements multi-vendor protocols without synergy
This is shitty: This in no way is dangerous, such as driving in a car. It's only annoying.
Think of it as the same level of sitting next to the fat & smelly guy in the theatre: Annoying, but should the U.S. ban fat people?
What should be done is to pass a law allowing cell-free zones, such as HOSPITALS, or a particular business if they desire it. There could be a cell-usable zone in a restaraunt, like smoking areas.
This way, theatres which wish to allow it may, while not forcing all of them to allow it.
Legislate that all phones can be "modified" if you enter a public space - allow the owners of theaters or restaurants to buy equipment that makes phones revert to vibrate mode.
YOU ARE EDUCATED RETARDED
dumbfuck.
this line of text is here to defeat the lameness filter.
Who the fuck cares, bitch? I got last post!
Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra made national news when he stopped between movements to scold the audiance due to the number of people whos watchs went off during one of the most emotional movements in a Beethoven symphony (I think it seven, but it was a few years ago). The audiance roared with applause. Since then all syphony concerts in the city start with "The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra is proud to present [concert high light]. Please turn off all cell phone, pagers and alarm watchs throughout the duration of the performance. Thank you."
They have went as far as to get Halls to donate a ton of cough drops at the beging of the season and have several places where patrons can take them before entering the Hall... Cell Phones, alarm watchs, and pagers are fine.... Coughing and people figgeting is still a problem.
Is it legislation needed? No. Do people need to be taught "common" courtesy? yes. The message at the start of the concert works, doesn't take an act of (city/state/national) congress. I am glad to see that people in power at NYC have noticed the need for change, but is a law really needed?
While I hate cellphones in cinemas, cafés and restaurants as much as the next guy, I think a *law* to prohibit them in those places is absolutely absurd! What's next? A law against putting your elbows on the table? A law against not opening the door to older people? A law that says you can't chew with your mouth open?
I'm from Finland and this used to be quite a big problem here. Not just at cinemas. It seems people have learned now and for the last couple of years, I don't recall being disturbed by someone's phone at a movie theatre or restaurant. It just takes a while before people pick up on the etiquette. But you sure as hell don't need a law for it.
"Land of the free" indeed.
The one thing that people apparently have been missing is the fact that they quote that the bill bans cell phones from "places of public performance", then goes on to list movie theatres, art galleries, and libraries...libraries? Last time I checked, libraries weren't considered a place of "public performance", but more of a public/community service funded by taxpayers. Also, the problem with listing "public perfomances" is the fact you also have such items as parades, circuses, other various sorts of activities that can happen in parks, conventions, et cetera, all that have to apply for a "public performance" license. So even though the Big Apple NYC Anime Convention was held there, you cannot legally use your cell phone, because since it's in a convention center, it falled under the statutes of being a "public performance". What utter silliness.
Wondering about the specifics of the bill, I attempted to possibly find a draft of it on the New York City Council's webpage: http://www.council.nyc.ny.us/ To no avail, there was none. The only bill they had that related to cell phones was about the necessary use of installing two-way radios or cell phones on NYC school buses. That would be an interesting concept, as to if they limited cell phone usage restrictions just to the building, or the surrounding area. No schoolbuses can park here! They have cell phones!
You also have the entire point of the fact that apparently most people hate cell phones is because they "make noise". I noticed the news site mentioned nothing about limitations on pagers. Does cell phones automatically equal pagers? Or did the use an ambiguous name such as "electronic communication devices", which I have seen before. This would become utter silliness eventually.
And you also have the fact of the clause that allows "emergency phone calls" How can people exactly define what is an "emergency", according to government standards that will be used in the law? And how will the court determine whether it was an "emergency" phone call? They cannot legally get any possible "recording" that cell phone companies would do, since recording phone calls would be illegal in the first place without various wire-tapping legislation enforced. (Unless you're a suspected terrorist according to Attorney General John Ashcroft, and then you have no right to privacy). So it's entirely up to the police to set out to get a warrant to access the records of your cell phones to determine just who you called, and if they responded, and summon them up to the court to get their testimony. This seems a rather cumbersome, unwieldy process just to determine if you could actually use your cell phone legally in that situation or not, and therefore would probably not be enforced. Which also brings to mind the manner of enforcement. You are "possibly" breaking a law by performing a celluar phone call. You do not have to carry ID on you at all times, unless you are operating a motor vehicle of sorts, or other such things. So the officer has no definitive source of your ID other than your own word. And you also have the issue of how does he obtain your celluar phone number, without a search warrant obtained? Like the interior of automobiles, it is considered to be a part of you, and the officer could only do it if he considered "probable cause". So if you lock your phone, and hand it over to him, it is not necessary to give him the access code.
Mainly, my point here is, it's quite silly to try to do this.
One night I found a bunch of empty beer cans in the backyard...I decided to build a submarine...
We have so much time, and so little to do - strike that! Reverse it. Tryn Mirell
One thing that I have not been able to comprehend is why talking on cell phones in public or semi-public places, in general, is such a bad thing. Of course I understand the problem with using them in theaters and the like, but then you're not supposed to talk during a play or movie anyway. But I've never seen anyone complain about people talking to each other (in person) in restaurants--well, I guess it depends on the restaurant--or supermarkets. Why, then, is it suddenly improper for people to talk on cell phones in such places, assuming they use a similar tone of voice?
If cell phone makers could get together and agree on a common standard for a silencing signal which would be broadcast within the theatre and consenting phones could take the cue and silence their ringers or switch to buzzer mode. A lot of people just forget to turn their ringer off.
Naturally there would have to be safeguards to prevent just anybody from sending out a silencing signal.
Someone is talking during a movie or show? Tell them to shut the fuck up or get their ass beat. Works _every_ time.
I guess your average slashdot reader is just too much of a pussy to do this sort of thing.
following the recent state-wide ban on cellphone use while driving.
talking on a cell phone while you drive is already banned in italy. and i think it's ok. it just distracts people from driving well and causes chrashes. (is this a troll post?)
I just don't trust anything that bleeds for five days and doesn't die.
Anytime someones cell phone goes off, just ask for your money back. Soon all movie theaters will ban cell phones without the government getting in.
Oh wholey knight
you realize you've hit the fundamental principle of law around here, right?
... we hate ideal things (platonic sense) -- but we have to act on physical things ... and we can't always find a mold that fits all cases. so we just do what we like instead ...
... it was just the easy butt-cheek.
A is bad. B and C both cause A to happen. We can't prevent all things that cause A, but we don't like A... so we'll ban what we can. B is easy -- we'll do that. C is hard? well, can we tax it instead?
it's sad, no? law isn't about principles or all-purpose generalizations
for the sake of example: my school, while i was living in the dorms, decided that internet censorship was a good thing. so they blocked stuff from coming through the T1 to us from the good ol' internet. they had no way to block us from getting it over phone lines, they didn't search our vehicles, listen to our conversations, or open every package that came in the mail. didn't even as us about those entry points. they only blocked the entry point most easily blocked. and no, they weren't doing it for the sake of their bandwidth (for -that-, they blocked other sites, closed port 21, etc. about a year later.) they were doing it for moral principles. and because they could. and it was easy. and cheap.
never again be surprised at half-assed legislation
A law banning it won't work. Like the laws that make it illegal for 15-year-olds to get pregnant. So the real question becomes "Would you pay $0.50 more for a cell-free performance?" That would nicely pay a theater employee or two to sit in movies and escort people whose phones ring to the parking lot, sans refund. It would also pay for the cellphone-using assholes who would stop going to the theater. At $7.50-$10.00 a ticket, a fifty-cent surcharge on cell-free showings is about 6%, less than what many people pay in sales tax.
High-speed Road Trip (18.000KPH)
But as for studies and statistics, well, we know one of the greatest thinkers of our time has this to say:
The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach
Cellular phone rings
Morpheus: God damn motherf*cking people. Bwah, I need my pills, where are my pills?
Neo: Red or Blue?
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
When I get called fag I immediately go to vibrate mode. With my penis!
So, I could never understand just
why are people pissed about someone
talking on a phone in a damn
restaurant? Everyone else is talking
also, it's not a theater. So what's the
big deal?
Considered harmful.
I'm getting pretty close to violence, so I'm just wondering if I'm going to be the first.
This is fucking ridiculous. The author of the bill is just doing this as a publicity stunt, but he's still an idiot.
sulli
RTFJ.
What I want is a jammer of my own. But I don't want it to work perfectly, just about 80%, Enough to make it hard for the person to hear the conversation. Then when they turn to get better reception, turn the jammer off. Keep playing this game til it looks like they are playing twister. (Kinda like those devices you can buy that make peoples radar detectors go off.)
So does anyone know where I can get one?
My Weblog
Jamming the cellphones while in the theatre is.
A law should be passed to allow active jamming of cellphone signals by property owners on their property, rather than outlawing the use of cellphones in certain areas.
Why? because then the law will not be twisted to new interpretations - i.e. carry a cellphone at a public protest, and be arrested for it.
Try and use a cellphone to call someone to report police brutality and get arrested for it.
Think facing a search when entering a public place to 'check for cellphones' is too far fetched? After the airport security measures introduced after 9/11, I don't think so.
Just carrying a cellphone could be grounds for detention or search.
Another option is for manufacturers to voluntarily support some type of audible-ring supression on receipt of a certain signal - this is, of course, a similar type of strategy to the RIAA/MPAA - control the rings by modifying the hardware, but in this case, I don't think too many people will be actively hacking such a system, especially since it does not preclude non-audible alerts.
However, I still think the blanket jamming approach is best all round, since the cellphone industry has not responded to the problem by now.
The only situation I could see where jamming would be undesirable is in some type of emergency situation where a cellphone call getting through might be important e.g. fire/earthquake etc.
All in all, I think if cellphones have become a significant enough annoyance, then the government should let the people take action if they so desire, instead of the police - This might result in the manufacturers coming up with a real solution to the problem instead of sweeping it under the rug and pretending that building deliberately obtrusive alert mechanisms is a good thing to do.
Now, this might lead to johnny/julie hacker building a mobile cellphone jammer to keep obnoxious cellphone users out of his/her personal space, so such a law would need to be written carefully - perhaps you would need to obtain a permit to jam cellphones in your area and pass inspections to ensure you weren't jamming too large an area. It could be part of the building codes etc.
However, I believe that giving people the right to supress transmissions on non-essential spectrum on their own property shouldn't be a big problem.
Anyone else think along these lines?
I gots ta ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long
Congratulations! Be sure to let us know when you learn how blink without concentrating.
You didn't say if you asked for your money back so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you did, because I KNOW if were in that theater where the ushers were called not once but TWICE to tell families to shut-up their BRATS I would have DEMANDED to speak with a manager after the show and ORDERED them to give me back every dime I paid, including the cost of the popporn!
If they refuse just remember the lady who spilled McD's coffee and SUE. Small claims lawsuit is $25 here, and I can sue up to 3 grand, and I would sue for all 3 and let the judge decide how much it's worth.
Frivolous litigation you say? Nonsense: you purchased a service, you were denied that service, you were owed your money back. Simple as that.
After a few dozen people do that then maybe the theater manager will wise up and kick people out THE FIRST TIME. I have NEVER been to a movie where a usher was needed to ask a person to be quiet, and I'm sure I've been to at least 200 movies in my lifetime. To have ushers called TWICE in one 3 hour movie is unheard of.
I'm an Emergency Medical Technician on a US Public Health Service Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT). I am required to be accessable by pager or cell phone 24/7/365, so that I can assemble with my team in the event we're activated. Are you suggesting that, in addition to the knowledge that I may have to leave my family on a moments notice, I resign myself to never seeing another movie or play for the duration of my service? That's gratitude for you.
>> The guy kept talking for another minute, then got off the phone, then took off. Needless to say, it fucked up that part of the movie pretty badly.
A fitting response would have been this:
1. wait until the movie ended
2. stand up and ask for everyone's attention
3. ask them all to inform management there of what traspired before they leave, and that it is causing them to seriously consider never returning
If enough people care, the theater will enforce their own ban.
Whenever I'm someplace where I'm likely to disturb people, I just put my phone on vibrate. This seems like a pretty easy solution to me.
Does this
Costs about as much as a cell phone plug-in, and all your devices will work with it.
Yes, it is a bit silly to emulate AC from DC, then promptly send it back to DC again, but makes things sooo much simpler. You can ditch the laptop car adapter, cell phone, PDA, portable TV, or maybe that mini fridge for picnics.
And most of those have a nice heavy duyty capacitor to allow steady output.
Yes Dilbert, people on cellphones do speak louder than other people in resturants
Andrew
...everywhere. It's so f'ing annoyi...hang on, phone.
If you think
we could borrow it from the Netline Technologies - an Israeli firm. Here is the article
Siggy Say, Siggy Do
"You are the One!" he would boom, waiting for his echo to die out before jumping off the stage and walking purposefully to 'the One.'
"The Oracle told me I would find the One. Why must there be One in every production? Why must she always be right?" He would then grab the phone from the One and point to the door.
"There are two ways out of this building. One is that door, the other is on a stretcher. If you want to get out of here alive, you must do exactly as I tell you. The lobby at the front of the theater is empty. Go! Now!" As the One leaves, Fishburne should call after him, "You forgot your phone! Never mind, I'll FedEx it to you!"
just what we need! this way no more 'hey.. no i'm not doing anything particular.. just watchin a movie.. yea kinda boring.. OMG TELL ME MORE??#?#? oo.. he DID WHAT??#"?#' i just wish this could/would come around here too..
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
<sacrasm> Nice to see America being ahead of the rest of the developed world again! </sarcasm>
Follow me
Karma: I am a number, not an adjective!
I vote for a box to make cell phones ring as you enter an establishment, so that whoever is at the door can hand out a clue.
I think this is the best possible solution if it can be done. Just a shielded hallway everyone has to pass through that tricks cell phones into thinking there's an incoming call. Anyone with experience in the area want to comment on the feasibility?
I go to a college here in England where the maths department has imposed a 50p fine if your phone goes off in lesson, and they actually enfore it - it's no threat.
How to fix the problem of ringing cell phones, let me share a true story. I was at a theater watching a movie, and it was still in the previews. Suddenly a phone rings in front of me and you start hearing the low rumble of annoyance in the crowd. All of a sudden three rows in front of the poor fellow stands up a 6 foot 5 biker guy with hundreds of tattoos. He looks at the guy and says "This will be the last fucking time that phone rings". I don't think I have seen anyone so scared in my life. Poor guy. So what is the moral of the story, higher the Hells Angles to secure the theaters. Use fear not public pressure to stop the ringing. Granted there will be a stabbing or two, but it's for a good cause :)
First, you have to know, not fear, know that someday you are going to die
Having a special law for that is just silly imo. I think there's already existing technology which detects an active mobile phone. Theaters should install such devices on the doorways leading to the place which should be "phone free".
Protocol that would use some type of radio signal that would shut the ringer off and change it to vibrate or something? Use it in lets say...the main doorway to the theater, and the entrance/exit to the building. It would have to be well-planned of course, but it COULD potentially work.
I would create a sig, if only something of value could be said with just 120 chars.
Sure, it's technology feeding technology, but since more and more cellphones (at least in Europe) are being equipped with Bluetooth Transceivers, why not just implement a Bluetooth setup where as you walk into a Theater / Cinema etc, a signal is sent to the phone saying "Ignore all calls".
A modified SIM could be issued to Doctors / Fire Persons etc telling the phone "Enter vibrate only mode" instead.
This would totally prevent the need for a set of laws governing usage, and doesn't have many of the common problems associated with Cellphone Jammers...
Disclaimer: I meant what I thought, not what I wrote! What? You can't read my Mind? Oh dear!
I think the issue here is not so much the phone, but the F*CKING STUPID NOISES IT MAKES! Why do people use stupid ring tones? its not funny, and certainly not novel anymore. Things that make lame noises and play tunes have been available since the 80's so why do people still actually find them attractive? You wouldn't go around town with a mullet! Dom Jolly was making a point when he went round London on a massive phone with the (perhaps copyright-infringing) Nokia ring tone on it, take his point and make your phone quieter. Put it on vibrate and the ring tone that makes a few little beeps, you can still hear it and turn it off before it gets any louder.
Personally, having my phone go off in a church/cinema/theatre/lecture etc. would be pretty f*cking embarrassing. It wouldn't help if the person at the front started shouting at me. Obviously, some people are so full of themselves that they don't really care.
Since the technology industry has been pleasuring themselves in anticipation of how much they can screw us with DRM and gadgets that follow _their_ commands, I expect they will use the GPS features in newer phones to lock the device when it enters a designated area such as a cinema, this would be pretty evil i agree - someone else controlling your property is never good, but the alternative would be to build shielding into buildings themselves...
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
So true!
This is a fucking good idea. The arseholes who leave their phones on in cinemas or theatres are ignorant scum and need to be taught a lesson.
We can start with dropping their mobile in a bucket of water. Then we can re-introduce the stocks, and give everyone in the cinema or theatre a ripe tomato to throw at the fuckwit.
I go to a cinema to watch the film. Not to listen to some arsehole wittering on about work, or his/her sex life, or the weather this afternoon.
I go to a theatre to watch the play, not to listen to some idiot too stupid to turn the keypad beep off, sending text messages to his stupid friends.
I go to the opera to listen to the music, not to listen to some fuck organising his bank account over the phone.
Arseholes who use their mobiles in a place of public entertainment deserve to be taught the errors of their fucking stupid ways.
Confiscation of phone and a stiff fine at the very least... Beats a good kicking from everyone in the audience.
"Information wants to be paid"
Subject says it all
...that Home Theatre sets and DVD's are selling so well? $1000 or so buys you a DVD and Surround amp/speakers that are good enough for most people, and this will get you close to the Real Deal. Close; the only thing lacking is a big screen, and large LCD's and projectors are becoming cheaper and cheaper.
If I can get the cinema experience at home with some friends, good seats, and palatable popcorn, then like hell will you ever see me again in a cinema with the noisy, inconsiderate knuckledraggers that are my fellow citizens.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
Well what if it was a genuine emergency.
I say, if the phone rings and whoever recieved the call isn't packing their shit and leaving within thirty seconds, than kicking rights to everyone in the theater.
>
I'm glad someone brought this up... Blue Linx Inc. has been working on this for quite some time now. The question is whether it will be adopted by the industry or not (be sure to read the FAQ on Blue Linx's site). There's also another article mentioning Quiet-Zones here.
I was on a university course at Oxford a few years ago. During a lecture a mobile phone rang, everyone looked scornful at the embarassed student as he turned off his phone and put it away again. About 15 minutes later another mobile phone rang and we went through the same ritual again with the lecturer stopping and leaning with both hands on his podium to look scornfully at the offending student.
Another 10 minutes past before the 3rd mobile phone rang. This time the lecturer looked very embarassed as it was his phone.
I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
Most theaters I've been to already have a sign telling you to turn off cell phones, pager and other electronic devices. Is this enforced? No it isn't.
/.er's in this thread advocate for the theaters to install jammers for their viewing convinence. WTF? Has crack suddenly become fashionable and I haven't noticed? Jesus people what if there is an emergency. Sure If some jackass is talking to his girlfriend they should be told to turn it off or leave, but if someone is sitting in the theater and recieves an emergency call they don't need bullshit from some overzealous geek on a phone etiqutte crusade.
On the other hand there's also a big No Smoking sign. Now next time you go to a movie light up a big fat stoogie and see how long it takes before your escorted out of the theater.
Some
For me personaly, I don't have as much a problem with cell phones in particular. There's always some jerk talking anyways. Little cool gadgets that beep are not as annoying as some guy explaining the plot to his dim-witted girlfriend.
People should just stand up to rude people and say something. Theaters need to enforce the rules already inplace. There's no need for jammers or any new laws, if theaters start getting a rep of enforcing the no cell phone ban they already have this wouldn't be as much of a problem.
>
1. answer it
2. ignore it and wait until the caller gets bored and stops ringing or gets switched to your answer service
3. cut the call off straight away (at which piont they'll probably try and call back again
How hard would it be to have a button, which, when pressed, sent the caller directly to your answer service so they could leave a message? perhaps swicthicngt he phone off while it is ringing would do this, but that sounds kind of risky. A "switch to voice mail" button seems much more user friendly.
----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
I mean, the social punishment for leaving your phone turned on (and it happens to ring) is extreme already, in the ballpark of lighting a cigarette in the theater. Does anybody really think that making it illegal will be an additional deterrent?
in Belgium we always have a warning about cell phones in movie theatres first one used to be: silence your cell phone before the movie the new one is a little more original: don't forget to put your cellphone back on after the movie there is a law you could use here: you can ask the operator of the movie theatre a refund if you experienced something disturbing during the movie. The problem is that no one will ever try to enforce this law. So basically we are stuck in the same situation you are.
"But Peewee...I sleep in the nude!"
What about my right to free speech?
What about my right to privacy?
This is totally unconsistutional!
forbiding actors to yell " Turn your F---ing phone off!", or audiences from yelling " Asshole!"
I rather think that's all the law we need. Now, go do *your* part in enforcement.
KFG
We had a problem in the lab I work in with people keeping their ringers on; so we put out a policy that all phones must be on vibrate. That worked for about 5 days until people started forgetting. What made the situation worse was that people would leave cells on their desks while they went to the bathroom or went to smoke.
.25s, look at me, and say "I got it!"
:-)
One day, this guy and his gf were out for a smoke and his cell went off four times. The second and third times it went off I picked up for him and hung up. The fourth time I decided to hide it. By now I was pretty pissed, so with the help of a friend, we hid it in one of the flourescent lightbulb cieling lights. This one you had to lift the bulb out of the socket to get the cell under the light. And we left it there. He came back about 10 minutes later and we had one of the guys in the lab who had his number ring his cell. When he realized that his cell was gone and he had no idea where it was, the fun began. It took him about a minute to identify the area the phone was in and then another 2 to figure out that it was above him. Meanwhile, the entire lab is laughing their asses off at them, myself especially.
The cells were on vibrate pretty regularly for a while, but every once in a while, someone slips up. And then I strike, much to the bemusement of the rest of the lab. It's a fun challenge finding inventive places to stash a cellphone. Next time, I plan on removing the chip from the back. In anycase, the whole lab is now so terrified that when they forget to put their cell phones on vibrate and they get a call, they pick it up in about
The lab has quieted down quite a bit.
Humorless sig goes here.
There are already laws on the books prohibiting the use of profanity in public places, yet those laws don't seem to have prevented Fishburne from yelling "fuck" in a crowded theater. There are already laws on the books prohibiting people from making threats of violence to others, yet posts on this thread are filled with the macho bragging of those who threatened violence to people with ringing cellphones.
What difference is one more law going to make when people don't acknowledge the current laws?
My cell phone's ringer is never on -- I set it to vibrate. I have gotten a call while in a theater -- I excused myself to the lobby, took the call, and went back in. No more disruptive than getting up to go to the john.
Cell phones aren't the problem -- inconsiderate people are. Some people rely on their cell phones -- in my case, if I hadn't taken the call right then, the caller wouldn't have made it to a party I was having later that evening. Other cases can be more serious -- some people carry cell phones in case of an emergency, or their wife going into labor, or what have you.
On the other hand, I don't pull over when I get a call while driving, so lump me in with the assholes.
My deviantArt site
I just don't like excessive legislation. There is a certain amount of legislation which is necessary to make society function well; there is also a certain amount beyond which society functions less well. The exact points at which the two boundaries occur evolves with society, but I think we're well past the excess-law limit for our present society now. Adding new laws for trivial purposes like this only makes a bad situation worse.
It should be possible for any reasonable educated adult to stay within the law under most circumstances; having to hire a specialist to interpret the law for you should be a rare occasion. If it were so, perhaps lawyers would be respected more than resented, and it would be possible for our legislative and judicial systems to keep up with the important cases rather than processing unimportant trivialities.
Just where the line between trivial and important should be drawn is open to debate, of course, but when we haven't even worked out the legal implementation of fundamental issues like free speech or the appropriate limits of intellectual property tools, whether people get annoyed in theatres by morons without manners doesn't even blip the radar as far as I'm concerned. It's not that it isn't important to the theatre or the theatre-goers, just that it doesn't rise to the level of requiring the force of law, and the machineries of the law would be better directed at other targets in my opinion.
Anyone who is required by profession to carry a pager or cell phone will be greatly discriminated against by this law. I agree a person should turn their phone/pager off or at least put it on silent mode when entering a theater, but the last thing this insanely legislated country needs is more laws.
(first off /. sux today - it's made me enter this twice)
Yeah fuck them and the golf carts they rode in on. They can ban cell phones when they outlaw the dozen commercials they run in front of the movie -yeah the ones just like the ones on TV I go to the movies to avoid. For live theatrical performances? OK but for everything else - get a fucking grip on yourself and your artistic freedom and shut the fuck up, Precious.
They day they BAN cell phones is the day they'll a brand spanking new bank of $5.00/minute pay phones in the lobby.
And Larry Fishburne? Yeah fuck you too and make some more movies with a Baldwin brother.
I'd normally say that the UK has a pretty individualistic, selfish culture (thank you very much, Mrs. T!) but I've _never_ heard a cellphone go off in a cinema. Haven't been to the theatre in years so can't say about that :-) Certainly haven't noticed an epidemic of the things in restaurants, either, and I've _never_ heard one go off during a church service. People do drive and talk, yes, but it's a quick way to get a big fine and people know that so, erm, hide the phone when they see cops :-)
Seriously, though, is the USA cellphone culture that much more selfish than UK? And, if so, why?
Greg
(Inside a nuclear plant)
Aaaarrrggh! Run! The canary has mutated!
I agree with you 100%. If you use your phone responsibly then you should be able to use it in a car. If you're not, then a cop can already pull you over for reckless driving. What gets to me is that people don't even care that they're ruining it for the rest of us. Come on, people...turn off your phone when you go out to dinner or movies. Now, why is it legal to have a TV on while you're driving? Has anyone been behind one of these new cars/trucks with the TVs mounted in them so the passengers can watch TV (driver would never watch TV while driving)? Well, if you've been behind one , you know they are the worst invention in the world and should be outlawed right away. You get blinded by this bright light shining back at you, and you pull your hair out as the other driver keeps moving his head to watch it, causing his truck to swerve around.
A few notes to remember bummpyjojo, to prevent your most common mistakes:
1) Your = posessive (ex. "Get your hand off my dick."), you're = contraction of "you are" (ex. "You're a fucking moron.")
2) Their = posessive (ex. "Their dog bit your nutsack."), there = location (ex. "I put your severed testicles over there."), they're = contraction of "they are" (ex. "They're stomping on your testicles.")
3) Than = comparison of two items (ex. "My spelling is better than yours."), then = time/causality (ex. "Satan fucked you in the ass, then threw you into the lake of fire.")
4) Sentences cannot be extended indefinitely with the use of commas.
(It still reads like complete shit even with the fix-ups. Personally, I find the new generation of ultra-bright headlights to be far more dangerous than in-car TV systems.)
"That's Tron. He fights for the Users."
Funny, but in all the showings I've been too this has never happened. I wonder what would happen - would the entire audience turn to the offending virgin (a true slut would NEVER allow this to happen) and shout "Turn the FUCKING PHONE OFF VIRGIN!"
www.eFax.com are spammers
when I turn off the phone. Not my cell phone (I don't have one, and I never expect to have one), my old-fashioned handset at home. It has a switch that turns off the ringer. She gets even madder when I ignore incoming calls. I turn if off so the damn ringing doesn't interrupt me.
This is especially true during midterms. I can't tell you how many times I've been in the middle of a hard problem with 110% concentration when someone's damned phone blew off. My one EE professor had it right - He warned the class the first day, and then the first time he heard a ring, he screamed "TURN IT OFF", and said that the next one to ring was his, no questions asked. Everybody was sure to turn theirs off in his class after that. You'd have to see the fire in his eyes to understand.
Berto
Soon cell phones will follow the same route as Smoking. Cell phones will be banned in public places, thus leaving users the option of using their phones outside of buildings. Heck they'll have Cell phone trash cans outside buildings for people to throw their old cell phones and minute cards in ;)
I am Lord Snowbeam. Heed my call!
Why do we feel the need to legislate and regulate everything? If the theater doesn't like it they should start kicking people out (and they should).
I'm not a big fan of ringtones, but I think it's funny when someone's phone goes off in the middle of a meeting, and while it's spouting its silly themesong everybody looks at the person like they're a complete twit.
?-|||-----x<*))))><
Its a good thing they banned that crap from the road. I was afraid they would give in and focus more on any accident caused and then charge accordingly (negligence and unsafe motor vehicle handling). Now once again I can depend on the strangling.... er wonderful blanket of government to take place of personal responsibility and accountability. I believe that in car music is a cause of wrecks... that's gotta go too. Damn environmental controls can really occupy some peoples time! thats gotta go. Makeup? Yep, out the window. No more eating in the car (or drinking) so out with that and a ban on front seat cup trays. For that matter, no more can non-whispering talk be allowed and under _NO_ circumstance should the driver ever be involved in a conversation.
Yes my friends, this is a glorious day. Soon we will all be able to sit back and relax while government runs our lives, thinks for us and forces... I mean guides us to where it thinks is best for us.
This brought to you by the council for governmental prevention of overeating, eating red meat, eating any cholesterol, looking funny at other people, wearing tacky clothes, and not eating your vegetables
I did some amateur acting a year ago and one time there was this man who very loudly answered his telephone and said: "I can't speak to you now, I'm at the theater."
I personally thought that musical ringtones were a bad idea. Then I moved into an aparment with 3 other people who had cell phones. Using song of joy as my ringtone was the only way to stop me from getting up every time someone else's cell phone rang.
While I agree that talking on the phone is bad manners during the show, reading and sending short messages is fine provided your phone doesn't beep or ring. How many phones don't have vibrate mode these days? (This goes for WAP as well) So when they talk about installing signal jammers in the theatre it makes me angry! I enjoy my SMS access during the show, and I'm not bothering anyone! Why must I be punished? I didn't do anything wrong. So... if your theatre trys to block your signal, complain, and go somewhere else until they remove it!
Hi Greg,
I have actually heard a mobile go off in a cinema in the UK once or maybe twice. Certainly no more than that.
As for the US attitude to these kind of things, from what I've read here in the past (whilst perhaps being coloured by stereotypes), it seems to me as though in some cases they can be more selfish than what I would expect from people here in the UK.
You may remember an article a good while back about a cinema in the US that provided wireless connections inside the actual "screen" itself. As I remember, there were a large number of comments suggesting that people using laptops during a film were very annoying, as I can quite imagine. The comments were frequent enough and written in such a way as to suggest that having people using laptops inside a cinema is a common occurance - perhaps someone can verify this. I can't even imagine this happening in the UK, although I will admit that that is not entirely because of how selfish people are...
Cheers,
Roger
Do you have any better hostages?
Having a cellphone ring where people generally expect quiet is just rude. Not worthy of lawmaking. Just rude, especially in theaters. But the problem can be easily solved by the management of those establishments. Cell phone rings in innapproriate place, management asks the rude person to leave. They are perfectly within their rights to do so as long as they make it clear that this will happen in advance.
Using them while driving is a bigger problem which actually might be worthy of a law since it is actually dangerous and irresponsible on the same level as drunken driving.
That said I've never quite understood why people think talking on the phone is rude in a resturant unless it is one of those places where the conversation is relatively quiet. I mean the main reason I know most people go to the resturant is to socialize and they might be rude to their guests by talking on the phone but if I'm sitting at another table, what do I care unless they are somehow interfering with my meal? Maybe I'm just not bothered by that particular instance much.
I've seen a number of posts talking about how people get calls (and shockingly, answer them) in classes. There is an easy solution for this. If I were the teacher, there would be an immediate quiz. Not just any quiz, one that most of the class would be likely to fail. And I would tell the whole class right at the beginning of the semester that there would be one of these nasty quizzes everytime I heard a cell phone ring. (if I was feeling especially evil I'd take the results into account *after* any curving was done to grades) And then I'd just let peer pressure do its thing. Somehow I think folks would get the hint.
Hmmm, wait a minute... I'm proposing to give these same idiots who can't turn the ringer off the power to pick the sound it makes... "Is that my phone, or did you fart?"
I'm wondering if this law is really about having police in theaters able to arrest or ticket people with cell phones. I suspect a large part of it has to do with the fact that we live in a lawsuit happy culture, in which theaters are reluctant to enforce their rights to boot the noxious patrons because of the threat of a lawsuit.
If I'm busy, I will let the answering machine pick up the regular phone. If it's something important, I can always call back right away.
Of course, this always creates some issues with guests when I do this. The look of excruciating pain on their faces is priceless. . .
Enforcing the legislation would be impossible - are you going to stick a police officer in every screen of every movie theatre?
How about simply encasing the building in a small-holed wired mesh? Compared to all the acoustic gear and other cost that goes into making a movie theatre, putting some wire mesh in the walls is cheap.
Or for theatres that aren't still on the drawing board, how about a small microwave jammer. Wouldn't be too expensive, would work a treat. Only there are probably laws about that kind of thing that'd need an exception adding/licensing in place, such that you couldn't just arbitrarily jam people's phones.
Of course then we'll have lawsuits against the signal causing cancer or something.
But this way the theatre could enforce making phones quiet without having to send in legions of pimply faced teenagers to try and force the issues.
--- I used to moderate, then I read the -1 articles and decided having to filter through them was not worth it.
I don't have a problem with the way any of those people were acting. Its a public space, why shouldn't folks be able to talk on their cell phones? If you don't like it, then get a car and drive to where you want/need to go.
With all the bitching and moaning on Slashdot about people not using public transit enough and driving too much I can see why it is the way it is. Because when people DO try to use it, they run into cranky twerps like you who try to make the ride as boring as possible so that they don't get "disturbed".
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
(Slashdot really needs an "Unconciously US-Centric" tag, but fair enough for a topic like this...)
The UK is about five years ahead of the US in mobile phone use: for more than a year, more than 50% of the population (including babies, possibly even including pets and the dead) own mobile phones. Every film starts with a "Turn off your mobile phone" trailer, most recently with an "extract" from Chicken Run, which shows the farmer stop "acting" and stare at the audience when he hears a phone ring (though he regrettably does not "Throw a Fishburne"). People get the message. Once phones become so common in the U.S., reminders like this should be so common.
The only improvement I would suggest is "People with laser pointers will be taken out and mamed"
"No action shall lay in the civil law, nor any criminal charges be preferred, for the death, maiming, or torture, nor for injury of any other kind, by the patrons of any entertainment establishment when said injury or death is of a person whose electronic device, save for alarms on pacemakers, heart monitors, or other life saving device, interrupts the performance."
hawk, esq.
Oh, and for those who find the law pointless due to the messages now before the movie: the ability of the theatre to remove someone in cuffs and detain until the police pick him up will make a *big* difference . . .
I was with my dad at the local opening of Lord of the Rings. I'm "somewhat" of a fan (I was looking forward to the movie but severely let down) and my dad was realllllly into it, read all the books, etc (I haven't read any of them) anyways, during the movie my dad's cell phone rings. Not only that, but he answers it, and continues to talk, DURING the movie at his seat. THEN he hands the phone to me and says it's my brother and wants to talk to me. God.
Breaking character to cuss at a patron?
For whatever reason, the guy must be a miserable excuse for an 'actor'. Sounds more like a diva.
I'd think that some jackass on stage swearing at the crowd would ruin my experience alot faster than a cell phone ringing. Sure it's annoying, but I havent payed to see the guy with the cell-phone.. He doesnt owe me, Fishburn et al do.
This cult of celebrity we have going, this idea that we somehow owe worship to these gods of TV, movie and theatre, is utterly ridiculous. If I'd been in that theatre, I'd have gotten up, walked out to the lobby and demanded a refund.
I would be mighty pissed if I payed the price of a broadway ticket to watch some pampered dickweed have a temper-tantrum onstage.
The show must go on, you freakin crybaby.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Is emergency health care workers who are on call. Would you jam the signal of an ER surgeon without him knowing it?
I Browse at +4 Flamebait
Open Source Sysadmin
Fine, meet the bouncers - Mr XXY and Mr XXXY, who will now proceed to take you and your cellphone outside so you can take your call.
Somehow, I don't think a venue staffed with bouncers who all have Klinefelter's syndrome will create the most intimidating of impressions...?
1) Americans have to pass laws because a vast majority of Americans have no manners. They have no manners because we as Americans have failed to teach kids how to behave properly. American schools are a joke because we have legislated every shred of morality and common good out of them.
2) The civil liberties jack-asses will keep such legislation from happening, just like they keep Airport Security from searching people who actually look like terrorists.
3) Sooner or later some dickbag with a cell phone is going to get killed/maimed in a movie theater by someone who is tired of all the self-important assholes who think they are oh so popular, and need to have the cell-phone's ringer set to "deafen".
4) There will be a public outcry for the banning of cell-phones during public performances.
The real problem is apathy. Americans only decide to give a shit only when something god awful happens (9/11 being a shining example). Americans don't believe in preventative maintenance, we only believe in damage control. This explains why we've poisoned our country and our society.
Truth is, our political system, as Democratic as we dream it is, really isn't. Big compaines/industries have and will control the fate of our country. We are not really Democratic, we are Capitalist, everything in our lives revolves around money. Face it, the reason we buy factory farmed meat isn't because there isn't an organic alternative, or that we don't give a shit about animals, it is because it costs another buck a pound. And as long as there are financially beneficial ways to satisfy the society (while destroying the planet) we as Americans will be more than willing to sacrifice our morals, and our planet.
From what I've seen in the U.S., there is nothing common about common sense. Oh, and that cell phone whilst driving law in N.Y. is a freakin joke, from what I've seen, only a small portion of the population abides by it. It certainly hasn't stopped the number of accidents that I have to drive past on my way home everyday, or the number of people I honk at for using their cell-phone while driving.
Do not try to to turn off the cellphone; that is impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth: there is no cellphone.
Even worse is having a baby constantly crying during a movie.
Lets pair the cell phone law with one that also bans taking any child 4 years or under to a PG-13/R rated films.
As you participate in Slashdot you are already a geek by default. Coupled with your anti-social behaviour I simply have to ask do you suffer from Aspergers Syndrome or perhaps full blwon Autism?
Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
Expect Gandalf to ZOT them. :-)
Rumor has it they will ban salt from the dinner table. In fact, anything bad for you will be banned.
Sounds like a scene from Demolition man doesn't it
Has Comcast disconnected your Internet account? Same here. You can read about it at http://comcastissue.blogspot.com
and if you don't like it, you can move to some place like Europe.
The fact that we are even discussing banning the most appropriate word to refer to some of the worst and most heinous sinners in history is downright revolting. Morality and servitude to Christ is more important than your "political correctness", and I'm just glad that most folks here seem to understand that.
My wife is a professional stage actress, and there were shows that were ruined by people having conversations. My wife had the same name as a local TV weather lady. So occassionally audience members would hold discussions about whether she was was the weather lady or not. She just wanted to yell at them, WE CAN HEAR YOU! But the theatre tradition is to ignore such disturbances.
What right have you to order people not to smoke for your own comfort? If you are a non-smoker, don't go to bars and restaurants which allow smoking. I simply fail to see why that is difficult for you. If not enough people were doing this, maybe it wasn't bothering them sufficiently.
The American anti-smoking, anti-drinking etc. movement is becoming increasingly obnoxious. I have tourists from the country responsible for polluting much of the planet telling me that I should not smoke near them. They have the option to go to a non-smoking restaurant. I don't have the option to go to another planet.
In law school, another student had a obnoxious watch that was constantly going off in class and elsewhere. I was a groomsman at his wedding. Shortly before the ceremony, the bride took the watch, handed it to me, and ordered me to grind it beneath the heel of my boot if it made a single peep.
I had my hopes up, but it didn't go off. So given a chance with a cell phone . .
I've had exactly one (1) cell phone go off in three years after this.
Additionally, if one did go off, the student would not be allowed back into the classroom until after a formal meeting with the Director of Academic Affairs (a lesser dean-like being) and myself.
hawk
I'm the system admin for the municipal court in a Texas city govt, in addition to that law we also have a city ordinance that declares "creating a disagreeable odor" in an elevator, to be one of the disorderly conduct offenses. No mention of "chemical means" at all. It *IS* intended towards folks with bad personal hygiene or manners. This ordinance was recently enforced upon an unruly punk kid who was being escorted by the bailif(for other offenses) in the courthouse elevator. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this charge listed in my end of month reports. I laughed so hard my ribcage hurt.
That one wa a student with a borrowed cellphone with a child in the hospital in serious condition. I would have OK'd that phone, anyway.
For everybody who wants to install some sort of signal jamming system: That would probably be illegal because there are some types (doctors, ambulance, police, fire dept.) who need their pagers to work, even when they're out at the theatre.
This doesn't need legislation - it can be handled by the people. If you run a theatre, remind your patrons to turn off the ringers on their cell phones, or you'll throw them out. Train the kids in red suits to throw them out, too. If you're at a theatre and somebody's cell phone rings, politely let them know that it's bothering you, and let the management know too. I don't see why we should legislate manners. If society finds it to be rude, let society scold offenders.
I really hate signatures, but go to my website.
hawk
Didn't he play Morpheus in The Matrix? You know, the movie where they used cell phones to contact the real world.
Oh, wait. This is theatre. This is drama. The whole point is to forget the real world.
Good call (no pun intended), Morpheus.
I seriuosly doubt that anyone would consider not going to the theatre because they didn't allow cell phones. But most smokers vowed to never eat out if restaurants didn't let them smoke. So while restaurant owners had a fear of alienating part of their customer base, theatre owners do not.
I've never been to a theatre in NY, but most theatres in Canada post a message reminding people to turn off cell phones and pagers during the show, and it's been years since I've had a show interupted by ringing. I don't think people mean to be rude, they just forgot that the phone was there. Or maybe Canadians really are more polite?
I'm living in a town (Rio de Janeiro) in a country (Brazil) that a lot of people does those nasty things (talk while driving, talk on theaters etc, even talk on churches and temples!) with a cellular. And, yes, that not only irritates, but also shows a COMPLETE lack of good manners. Fortunately federal (banning talk while driving) and local/statewide legislations are a weapon for us that doesn't stand those people.
I'm happy disgruntled New Yorkers now has similar weapons.
Cesar Cardoso can be found at cesar at zyakannazio dot eti dot br (or at least I believe so)
I believe there should be a national law prohibiting restrictions of cell phones at the state and local level. IMHO, no entity should have the right to prohibit the use of phones or other wireless devices.
The real problem is people who leave their phone on and let it ring in public places. How do we deal with that? How about this. If you really want to legislate it - require all phones to have a mechanism that can trigger an external sound cutoff. So, if a theater wants a silent zone, they can buy a small device that emits the "kill sound" signal in the area and nobody's phone will go off.
This would require phone upgrades (not a problem since the lifespan of phones is fairly short) and it puts the burden on venues which wish to take specific action against rude people who leave their phone on.
Personally, I leave my phone on vibrate mode 100% of the time and I don't carry on conversations in theaters. I don't think my ability to use my phone (check voice mail, wireless web, text messaging) should be denied because of a few rude people. (I am perfectly willing to upgrade my equipment) It also puts the burden on those venues who wish to impose the silent zone, which will hopefully limit the silent zones to only those places where it really makes a difference.
In summary - the only thing ruder than morons who let their phones make noises is people who want to restrict ANOYONEs ability to use a cell phone.
There is no phone.
Cell phone use is a constitutionally protected exercise of free speech.
Be sure to let us know when you can put all the words in a sentence that belong.
Yes, there is a mistake. Think hard about it.
This article on Wired says a New York City councilman is trying to ban cellphones in 'places of public performance'.
Hmm, should we really ban using cellphones during a baseball game?
Are there phones out there that will accept a schedule for when to use the ringer? When I was taking classes I really wished for something that could accept my schedule and vibrate or just do nothing when calls came in while I was in class... it's too easy to forget to shut it off...
The "do nothing" option could even save power since it wouldn't need to keep pinging the tower.
If a 10 second cellphone ring can RUIN your experience of a 2 hour movie, then you're watching a pretty lousy movie. Either that or you are as impressionable as a 2 year old child.
I can only wonder how these things can create such a lasting impression that someone can actually come out of the theater and decide to legislate!!
My word, if we can't deal with a cellphone ringing right now, we can pass on world peace.
Good crap!!! If you're going to tell everyone how much you love your penis in Japanese, then do it correctly!
Your code should be ペニス NOT ピニス
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I've never heard one go off in a cinema either. Maybe this is just a New York thing. NY definately has the reputation of being the rudest place in the US.
What are you thinking? Who says it is your god given right to talk on a phone while driving. News flash... Driving in this country is a PRIVELEDGE, not a right. Not to mention that studies have shown that people driving while talking on a phone have SLOWER response times than people who are significantly over the legal limit for alcohol. You have no idea how many times I've sworn at someone for doing something extremely stupid in traffic, only to find they are on the f'ing phone. So what happens when someone gets killed in an accident. I can see it now. Oh we are sorry sir, your family has died in a car accident. The person who hit them was talking on the phone, but to bad for you, it is a god given right, and you'll just have deal with that fact. Laws are made to protect people from themselves. Now the guy who lost his family loses it, and does some killing of his own. Now that person is dead all because they couldn't wait to talk to someone on phone.
until you read a recent post of mine and the response it illicited:
0 82 924
/. news posting, making fun of it in a rather subtle way.
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=38085&cid=4
In point of fact I said "f---ing" quoting not Fishburne, but the original
So. . . fucking relax, ok? Give me a fucking break or fuck off and die.
There, that better?
KFG
Doesn't your cellphones have vibrators in US?
Same story, but instead of 'fag' we pretended to sneeze and said, "BOOTY CALL!".
Eventually if you didn't care about 'booty call' you got 'Slut!' or 'Cunt licker!' in it's place.
Causing Chaos Everywhere,
Nik J.
The strange world of a loner, in a populous city, drowning in society
Here's the solution - every ticket comes with a EULA (shutup whiner, look the next time - they do. Hold harmless and all that shit) Anyway just include a clause about a $20 or $50 or whatever fee for audible rings during the film. Add a couple of slides before the performance. Have the ushers monitor a few films and enforce it a few times. Word will get around. End of problem.
I like simple solutions - like the neck high titanium/teflon wire I sometimes setup across my street. One head rolls and no more speeding problems!
For those reading while humor-inpaired: it's a joke of course. People just trolling about beating someone only deserve verbal abuse. But if you actually see someone mugging a cell-phone user or hitting their kid... well you have all the right to remind them how it feels like.
This article says the law is no cellphones in public performances, most movie theatres Ive been to are privately owned!?! how big does your TV screen have to be at home before you have to tell your visitors to turn their cellphones off around it?? Sometimes I just dont get the states.
I'm talking about the rights, and responsibilities, of the theater owners. They can set their own goddamn policy if they want to - and I think they should. I would be severely disinclined to go to a theater where cellphone use is allowed. But it's not the role of the Nanny State to require it! If some theater owner wanted to allow, encourage or even require cellphone use, that's the owner's right, and it should not be infringed by Bloomberg or some publicity-seeking councilmember.
sulli
RTFJ.
has anyone heard of decices that deactivate cell
phone in a certian radious, to be used at a restraunt/theatre etc.
I know they exist but I don't think they are legal as of yet.
...who happens to read slashdot, let me explain something. first of all, most regional and broadway theatres either have signs that say "please turn off your cell phone, pager, or anything else that beeps," or have a recorded preshow announcement saying the same. does this work? most of the time. but every now and again, some fool thinks to himself, "um, i'm too important to listen to that, and must take my cell phone call." furthermore, many theatres offer a service where you can check your cell phone at the box office or a similar place and leave your seat number (most legit theatres still have assigned seating, yes), and in the event someone calls you, they will answer it, and if it is urgent, send someone to find you, and will pull you out of the theatre. said patrons are in aisle seats, where if this happens, the distraction to other audience members will be minimal. this is particularly useful for doctors, or other professionals "on call." again, this doesn't always prevent cell phones from ringing in the theatre.
fishburne isn't the only one to have stopped a performance to yell at someone whose cell phone rang - a few years ago, at a performance by steppenwolf theatre company, the same thing happened, and one of the actors on stage yelled. i forget exactly who it was, but i keep thinking it was gary sinise.
as far as "emergencies" go, the law seeks to ban use in a PUBLIC place, where phones are going to be plentiful anyway. the time saved may or may not actually exist, when the caller has to give the address of the building, whereas a land based line would automatically send that information to a 911 dispatcher.
just my two cents.
Please send all hate mail to: 2135 N. Kenmore, Chicago, IL 60613
So does anyone have a schematic for a portable cell-phone jamming device? Something that runs off two AA batteries that will neutralize all cell phones within earshot? I'd love to carry one around on the bus/subway/theater/cinema.
https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
I'm going to make a bunch of assumptions. The average person is not a jerk. He or she doesn't want to annoy the theatre with the obnoxious cell phone symphony. Phones are so ubiquitous that the ringing no longer even has cool points associated with it. Most of these people dont turn off their cell phones (or change it to vibrate) because either they are lazy or afraid they will forget to turn it back on.
Cell phones are constantly chatting with the cell infrastructure as it is. Why not create silence zones where the phones automatically turn off their ringer and either vibrate or do nothing (depending on the setup of the silent profile? Granted everyone would have to buy a new phone or get their current phone upgraded. Going forward, however, it seems like a brainless way for us to have our phones and to preserve the Theatre Experience.
Why legislate away the utility of these devices when we can regulate them in a more sensible fashion?
Many car stereos have a remote control.
I thought it was the stupidest thing I had ever heard of until the MP3/CD player I got came with one. I leave it in the console and can change channels, modes, volume, etc.. without looking at the stereo at all and these days I'm not even aware I'm doing it anymore.
I can't believe that they are going to make a law on this crap, Some theaters are even lining the walls so that no cell phone or pager signals will enter the building, that isn't fair or right what if your a doctor or a person whom is on call , and your always the good person that uses the Vibrate feature that you should have to suffer when others mess it up, If they start doing this to my local movie theater I will not only stop coming but I will get enough people to stop going to the movies that I will put them out of business, This isn't fair nor right. ......
Actually Europeans have their own issues with cellphone users, just like Americans have. When I was in Rome recently, a number of churchs has "no cell phone zone" signs inside. Didn't stop many Italians from yapping away. I saw a number of annoyed priests chiding people.
It seems far more expedient to just "accidently spill" your drink on the person. Its probably even more effective than trying to take their phone away, plus you aren't in as much risk if the person has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, or is a tae-kwon-do black belt.
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
Consider it a mental health hazard. If I keep hearing this crap, I'm going to beat the living shit out of the next person who has their phone go off three times in a movie and TALKS on the damned thing. Forget those headsets - someone's going to get one rectally implanted.
See, and that would be bad for both of us.
Rather than making it illegal, why not just humiliate people who don't eitheruse a buzzer turn their phones off?
When a phone rings, the film is simply stopped, a spotlight is directed onto the person whose phone is ringing, and the person is informed, over that Dolby Surround Sound system on extra high bass, that the film will continue when that person hangs up, and that the cinema/theater can assume no responsibility for any injuries inflicted onto the pest nor damage done to his or her mobile phone by members of the audience.
Why not require cell phones to implement a "no noise" protocol? When they get a signal from a nearby transmitter they switch to vibrate mode for a while. Inside a theater you'll be getting the "no noise" packet every minute or so. After you leave, your phone re-activates ringing mode.
Here in California nothing is illegal unless there is a cop to enforce the law. People do the most incredibly stupid things all the time. California is chock full of idiots and assholes.
We don't need more laws, just less morons.
In places like theaters where patrons don't have enough sense or regard for other people's rights and privacy, the management should have the cojones to toss the offender out. If it doesn't happen walk out RIGHT THEN and ask for your money back. The theatre will get the idea. Don't sit through the entire movie then ask for your money back.
I went to see the comedian Galligher many years ago where a heckler was interrupting the show. After trying to get the asshole to shut up, Galligher pulled a $20 bill out of his pocket, told the ushers to give the jerk his money back and toss him out.
That action got about the biggest applause of the night.
*That is to say, absurdly simplistic and hopelessly unlikely ...
Hmmm. Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
Of course, all the morons who support speech codes, etc., are probably up in arms about this latest "trampling of my rights"....
I heard Michael Chabon read a chapter from his bestseller The Amazing adventures of Cavalier and Clay a few months back and partway through the reading his cell phone rang. It was his wife asking him how his trip to Boston was going and what was he up to right now. He told her he was in the middle of the reading, that he loved her, and then hung up and turn his phone off. Later in the lecture an audience member's cell phone rang and Michael asked if it was his wife again. It was pretty funny, but you kind had to be there.
You can listen to this reading here. click on the "Streaming Audio" link at the bottom of the page and then find the Michael Chabon streams. I don't think I can link to the actual streams themselves.
-- I am Jack's 7-bit appendix.
Socrates was banished for his views. I expect no less from our 'modern' society.
Banished? As far as I know Socrates was put to death.
I remember reading in a book that cell phones don't work on airplanes. Is this true? Is there anyone out there that knows if handoff works at airplane speeds?
Derailing a train with a car? How did he manage that, did he fill it with depleted uranium? I would think a train hitting a car would be like hitting an empty beer can with a car.
This is offtopic, but a reply to the reply.
.
It's a decade (at least) since I last spent any serious time looking at sex chromosomes - I may have written the wrong combination - XYY may be what I was thinking of - refer the section on http://anthro.palomar.edu/abnormal/abnormal_5.htm
Where the fuck do you go to the movies? All of our fucking payphones are outside in the sun in the summer, in the shade in the winter.
How come no 'free market' non-smoking eaterys? Because kamikazz Camel Straight smokers are MUCH KOOLER PEOPLE than mint-chewing lib_serf drooling non-smokers ... and all the great looking chicks would go to the SMOKERS ONLY places.
Oh Yes, Randomly beating the "fuck" out of someone will solve the problem, with a few small little problems.
30% of the population is armed with guns.
You would be arrested and sentenced to jail for a few years and sitting next to a guy named Bubba.
You would be sued for the injuries and lose all your property.
Did I mention, IT WOULD BE ILLEGAL?
Christ, Slashdot has gone from a nerd news/forum to a nerd news/forum/hatred. I occassionly visit and post but I'm stopping from now on. The people that post in here are either incredibly stupid or indcredibly violent. This is one fan that slashdot is losing.
P.S. It is a little twenty second noise, deal with it, I can count on one hand how many times this has happened to me and frankly I couldn't care less.
Another example of the government poking its nose into other people's business. NYC should spend less time encouraging cigarette smuggling with its assinine smoking laws, looking for excuses to slap its citizens' wrists and spend more time balancing its books.
Driving too fast is dangerous, so we pass legislation to outlaw it to discourage it from happening.
Similarly, driving whilst talking on a mobile phone is dangerous, so we pass legislation to outlaw it to discourage it from happening.
It doesn't matter that some people can drive fast or drive and talk on a mobile phone without detriment to their driving skills, it matters that not all people can do it.
In your exact words, "setting arbritray non-scientific standards is a mal-application of justice". Is it? Or is it just what's practical and sensible?
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
I think one of the main benefits of this law would be to legislate the idea that having a ringing cellphone that's annoying other people in a performance is a legitimate reason to be punished for it in some manner.
Think about it: Couldn't you just picture some rude individual with a bit of moneygetting kicked out of a theater for having a ringing cellphone, suing for some ridiculous amount, and winning?
It could happen, in our lawsuit-happy society. If this became a law, however, even the most ridiculous judge would have a good reason to throw such a case out.
Nice one. Cheap and dirty, but sweet. :)
Loudly ringing mobile phones in cinemas/theatres deserve to be pelted with jaffas. You can recycle the jaffas already on the floor.
According to a British Insurance company, using cell phones or mobile phones handsfree or not, makes the driver more dangerous than a drunk driver. Now imagine a drunk driver on the phone and you have a killing machine. Terrorism at home.
Other things that are bad for driving are
wireless news article on study of mobile phone users driving reaction times
car accident story
another car accident story
links to more info
-- it must be true, it's on the internet.
sorry, I've simply ignored the most substantive criticism you raised.
you are incorrect that existing statute provides no relief. Theaters can make (almost)whatever rules they want ans kick out anyone who isn't following them.Well, it's more likely contract than statute law, but, jurispridential pedantry aside, the point is well made. Of course you'll remember that the doctrine of 'privity of contract' ensures that the remedy is available only to the theatre, but not the patron. Not that criminalising such behaviour provides the patron with any remedy either, mind you. The hope rather, is that it simply removes their need for one.
Again, let me emphasise that I never intended to express support for the position that common curtesy should be enforced by means of the criminal law. The point is that the law, and the legislature, do have a role in balancing the contending freedoms of citizens.
Better to be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident a security. --Edmund Burke
What's worse, in a no english speaking country such as mine, I still don't understand why parents get their children to see a subtitled movie, when they don't even know how to read yet! Sheesh!!
"What did he said mommy?" And you have a feminine drilling voice translating the whole movie, damn it!
I have never understood why, there are babies at movies at all!
(Baby = under 1 year, I meant)
In fact I do believe there should be a restriction, no babies or pets allowed. Wanna see a movie but you can't let your sibling at home? Get a rental!
Why ban cells? It does affect me and I can't relay in good manners or education as I can't rely on that when it comes to driving cars. The same for crying babies.
If I don't want to be bothered at all, i sign off IM services. It's not a required software component on any computer except Windows XP machines.
My cel can be shut off too, and although I didnt make it clear in my last post, I usually turn it off or leave it home. My point is there is no reason to have people like those assholes who dress in cel phone costumes and smash the phones of peopel they see using them runnign around. If it annoys you then, in the words of Don Rickles, "Why don't you go buy a horse, and live in the mountians and dont' bother anybody." And no, it's definately not nice to yak it up in a quiet theatre. But it's also not nice to throw drinks and soda at someone who's phone beeped because their mother was just ruched to the hospital after her house burned down and someone needed them. Now do you understand both angles?
I wouldnt' be bothered by a National ID. Do I have something to hide? I'm sure it wouldnt' be at totalitarian as the possibility allows.
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
...And now it even works with my Mac. Mods, the man deserves a +1 Informative
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
This posting has been reported to the FBI child protection unit.
Is this stupid or what? Do we have to pass laws that people cannot fart or pick their teeth in public as well? This is just a common courtesy thing. If you're so important you can't possibly turn your phone off, then at least put the darn thing on vibrate. But do we really need legislation here? I don't think so. I go to meetings all the time and we used to get interrupted quite frequently by cell phones, until the glares that one got when receiving a call during a meeting got worse and worse. Now the worst case is someone getting vibrated then excusing themselves politly. If this has already happened in the business world, where cell phones have been the longes, then I think it is only a matter of time before we start to see cell phone ettiquite being practiced elsewhere.
Just some food for thought. Man, there were a lot of mis-spellings in that post...
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Why can't they get this right? All cell phones should have a real, gosh-honest mechanical switch on them that switches from ringer to buzzer or off. On my phone you have to navigate through at least four levels of menus, and use probably a dozen key presses to make this change. Most people can't program their VCR's, which is probably twice as easy. So, they don't turn off the ringer in theaters and everybody is clamoring for laws? Wrong solution.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
As has been mentioned this is not such a problem in other countries that have had a proliferation of mobile phones longer than the US and we are growing out of it. I have a feeling that this would end up like those (aprocryphal) laws often quoted on joke sites - "It is illegal to drive a pig to market while not wearing shoes"
I figured the dancing popcorn and soda before the showing would get everyone to shut off their cell phones. ;)
Yes, lung machines, a cancerous body rotting from the inside, bad breath, and artificial voice boxes are all way cool!
/.?
I just always assumed smoking was confined to those of the lower social and educational backgrounds. What next, a review of the latest Tom Clancy book on