Slashdot Mirror


France to Allow Cell Phone Jamming

ZuperDee writes "According to this article, the French industry minister has approved a decision to allow cinemas, concert halls and theaters to install cell phone jammers, on the condition that emergency calls can still get through."

63 of 866 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Emergency Calls? by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think thats the icing on the cake.

    Being able to say "Yer sure" and not mean it all in the same breath.

    Those wanting to block calls sort of get their way, and those who don't want it blocking get to smile as well.

    I think this is the best all round decision.

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  2. Re:Emergency Calls? by Magickcat · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I quote from the article- "Devedjian specified however that emergency calls and calls made outside theaters and other performance spaces must not be affected."

    --

    Si tacuisses philosophus mansisses. If you had kept quiet, you would have remained a philosopher.

  3. Re:Emergency Calls? by jrockway · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Exactly what I was thinking. Where are the technical specs for this system? Oh, there aren't any because it's impossible unless there's some support for it in the phone.

    What we "need", is a phone that will switch into vibrate mode when it detects a signal. Easy.

    I am actually one who is not bothered by phones ringing. It's like coughing or sneezing. Yeah it's disruptive, but it doesn't really distract me from anything. Cell phone goes off in class. Okay, three seconds later it's off and we can continue. Big deal. Sometimes, people need to communicate with each other (and still be in class). It's part of the über-high-tech-life. (or something :)

    --
    My other car is first.
  4. I for one really welcome this. by luvirini · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I have been to many theater preformances where suddenly in the middle there is some totally unsuitable melody ringing from the mobile phone of someone sitting nearby.

    For me atleast it causes a loss of the "magic" that I get from a good preformance and thus it really affects the overall impression.

    Like once in middle of a serious scene there were double mobilephone rings with some really annoying happy tunes at highest possible volume. If I had been armed at the moment there might have been two extra bodies...

    1. Re:I for one really welcome this. by arose · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I propose a low-tech solution. Warn people that they will be trown out if their mobile rings. Enforce.

      --
      Analogies don't equal equalities, they are merely somewhat analogous.
  5. Re:next, the cafes and restaurants by luvirini · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Personally there are times I would welome this too, as long as there are clear signs at the doors telling about it. So i would not go to such a place if I needed to be reachable, but would go if I need to relax without the disturbances they cause.

  6. Yes! by caitsith01 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Eat it connectivity junkies! The rebellion has begun!

    Seriously though... who REALLY needs to be contacted IMMEDIATELY 24-7? I would suggest that if you are really that important, you might want to skip the movie and stay in the Oval Office doing your job.

    And if a friend or relative is dead or dying, well, if it takes until the end of the movie for you to find out, they'll be just as dead after as they were during. Plus you will have had an extra 2 hours of Matt Damon (or Gerard Depardieu?) induced happiness before the terrible news reaches you.

    Basically anything that reduces our addiction to instant satisfaction of our every wish is ok with me. We don't NEED to be hooked up to a communication network all the time. They should also install these things in:

    - university lecture theatres
    - conferences
    - crowded public transport
    - you could have one in your house to turn on during mealtimes and other gatherings to encourage actual social interaction with people who are physically present

    --
    Read Pynchon.
    1. Re:Yes! by caitsith01 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I really think it's annoying that some people seem to have a problem blocking out things when they don't care to hear it.

      So basically you think we should all be like George W Bush? :P

      Explain to me how it's not ok for me to be annoyed by some dickwit talking on his phone in the middle of a quiet bit in a thriller that I have paid to see, but it IS ok for you to be annoyed at me for being annoyed?

      As for you and your child... well, that's what DVD players are for. Having children involves certain sacrifices, one of which is your ability to go out alone for a while. Either trust your baby sitter or rent a DVD, but don't let your stupid phone ring in my movie!

      --
      Read Pynchon.
    2. Re:Yes! by Vellmont · · Score: 4, Insightful


      And yes, some calls ARE that important. If I and my wife are out for dinner and a movie sans child, we're using our phones for emergency contact numbers.


      I'm sorry, but that's just a load of crap. Everyone is worried about there kid, but unless you're a doctor with ueber-specialized knowledge of your kids deadly medical condition I think others will be able to take care of any emergency better IN PERSON than you can over a cell phone perhaps 30-60 minutes away.

      I don't know if you know this.. but before cell phones people trusted their kids to babysitters and didn't sit on pins and needles worrying about little Johnny every single second (and thus needed cell phone contact for some emergency). Ok, some insane parents probbably still did, but cell phones have only seemingly broaded that insane impulse. I recall some episodes of crappy sit-coms making fun of such parents. Children can survive quite nicely for the length of dinner and a movie in the care of others. In the event of true emergencies some babysitters even know to call 911! Believe it or not there are better resources for emergencies than you on a phone (poison centers, 911 operators, and good babysitters).

      --
      AccountKiller
    3. Re:Yes! by Kombat · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There are cases where a babysitter may urgently need to contact the parent.

      There was a time, not so long ago, when cell phones didn't exist. And guess what? Parents still hired babysitters and went out for the occassional movie. The truly paranoid ones simply stayed home until their kid got a little older.

      What's wrong with suggesting parents of today do the same thing? As the GP said, having a child requires certain sacrifices. Suck it up and stop complaining, or don't have kids.

      --
      Like woodworking? Build your own picture frames.
  7. Re:First Post? by Pieroxy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That is exactly why I am glad this law passed. You are exactly the type of person I despise having seating next to me in a theater.

    You will now choose a theater where cells are not jammed, and I will choose one where cells are.

    The public will decide.

  8. I REALLY WONDER by imsabbel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    how everybody was able to survive 10 years ago, when NOBODY had a cell phone in the cinema or on a concert...

    --
    HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
  9. How lame can you get? by pedestrian+crossing · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I would personally be quite pissed that just to watch a movie, I would be out of touch for three hours. Not a good idea.

    And I would be quite pissed if you took a phone call while I was trying to watch the movie. Your attitude is so frigging self-important. If you cannot be out of touch for 3 hours while you watch a movie, stay at home!

    I swear, you see all of these posts that claim, "I must be reachable at all times", I call bullshit. You know what I hear when someone takes a call in a movie theater? I'll give you a hint, 100% of the time it is banal blather. Grow up.

    --
    A house divided against itself cannot stand.
    1. Re:How lame can you get? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "I must be reachable at all times", I call bullshit.

      There are people that do earn a living by being reachable 24/7...many of them. The reason you don't notice them is they've had to learn to be discreet about it, or else they would piss off the entire world, affecting their paycheck.

      I've been in that position. When some random ass server went down, I got paged to go fix it...4PM or 4AM. Nothing I did would ever qualify as an 'emergency' in some grand humanistic scheme, but if I didn't want to choose between eating and paying school loans next month, it was certainly an emergency to me.

      Is this really such a "frigging self-important" attitude as you say? Step back and put yourself in some other people's shoes before you start ranting. I did my best to avoid annoying others when I got called from a movie. I used silent/vibrate and sat as close to the aisles/exits as I could. Next time you are in a movie, notice that many people do get called away. I only started noticing when I was one of them.

      However, if I still had that job, I could not afford to see movies in theaters that simply jammed signals, and I'm not alone.

    2. Re:How lame can you get? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      There are times when it is important to be reached at a movie.

      The babysitter comes to mind.
      If my kid is injured, or on the way to the hospital I would like to know this instantly.

      ALL cellphones I have ever owned or used have a vibrate feature and I ALWAYS use it at a movie. When a call comes in from home, I politley exit the theater and answer the call. All other calls are ignored. I am even carefull to be descrete so that the lights from the phone do not distract other patrons. For all they know I am headed to the consession stand to refill my soda when I exit.

      Once there really was a family emergency that needed my attention. To deny my ability to receive communication is absolutly unjustified and I would never attend such an event nor sponsor such an estabishment by giving them my cash.

      It would be better to fine/ban/kick-out the indivdual that failed to put their phone in vibrate or silent mode when entering the theater.

      Most theaters I attend have a very catchy reminder before the movie starts to remind people to set their phones to vibrate or off.

      But when I go to a newly released kewl movie where there are lots of teenagers, I expect to hear a few distrations and to me, this is part of the experience of going to the movies and adds to the enjoyment of 'going out' which is rare.

    3. Re:How lame can you get? by swillden · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I swear, you see all of these posts that claim, "I must be reachable at all times", I call bullshit. You know what I hear when someone takes a call in a movie theater? I'll give you a hint, 100% of the time it is banal blather. Grow up.

      No, it's you who need to grow up. At some point you're going to acquire some real responsibility in the world, and then you'll begin to understand why people say such things.

      In my case, I have four kids. Sure, I get a babysitter who I think is trustworthy, but there are lots of things that can go wrong enough to require my intervention. They're extremely unlikely things, but if they happen I *do* need to know.

      Fifteen or twenty years ago, the solution was simple: Parents (and others who needed to be reachable) gave the theater's phone number to whoever might need to contact them and told the theater manager upon arrival that they might get a call. Try that today when you're at the 16-plex with 3000 other people on a Friday night, staffed with 16 year-olds who don't really give a shit what your problems are.

      Today, the solution is also simple: You take your cell phone, leave it on and put it on vibrate. If it rings, you look at the Caller ID on the screen. 999 times out of 1000, you put the phone back down and go on with the movie. That other once in a thousand, you leave the theater and take the call.

      So, with cell phones jammed, what's the solution? And don't tell me that it's just not to go to the movies. Anyone who argues that either (a) has no idea what being a parent is like or (b) wants to see an increase in the child murder rate.

      What really sucks about this situation is that all of the people who argue that they need to be reachable because of their responsibilities are also the people who use their phones responsibly. They're not the problems, but they are the ones most severely punished.

      IMO, cell jammers are stupid. It's an attempt to solve a social problem with technology.

      The best solution is to stand up and scream Quiet, you asshole! at anyone who talks on their phone or allows it to ring audibly. If someone did this in every theater every time it happened, the problem would pretty much go away. If everyone did it in every theater, the problem would evaporate completely.

      --
      Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
    4. Re:How lame can you get? by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Try that today when you're at the 16-plex with 3000 other people on a Friday night, staffed with 16 year-olds who don't really give a shit what your problems are.

      Don't be an asshole! Have you TRIED? I usher at a theater in 2001, a brand-new, just-opened theater and yes it was staffed with young people but, you know what? We ALWAYS would note where people expecting calls were sitting, and we would ALWAYS enter the theater if they got a call and tell them about it. You say the statement above but, and be honest, have you TRIED it?

      If your attitude to the staff of the theater is anything like your attitude in this post, then it's no wonder they won't help you!

    5. Re:How lame can you get? by BasilBrush · · Score: 2, Insightful
      The best solution is to stand up and scream Quiet, you asshole! at anyone who talks on their phone or allows it to ring audibly.

      And a near fight nearly breaks out, or a slanging match at least. And of course everyone misses 5 minutes of the film. Far better for the cinema loving majority that there is a jammer.

      Go to the bowling alley instead.

  10. A great idea. by neuro.slug · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I can tolerate a mobile phone going off in a movie theater, but I shall bring down fiery justice on those who leave their bloody phones on during a live performance. There has to be intervention when people don't have the decency to turn off their damned phones during a classical performance, an opera, or a play. It's not only rude to the audience, but it's also insulting to the performers.

    -- n

  11. Re:Emergency Calls? by Pieroxy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That is what I like about this new law. It doesn't force anyone to do anything. It does allow movie theaters to implement something, and the public will decide if they prefer going to a theater that allow cells or not.

    And while it might or might not irritate you in a movie theater, think about a real theater, a classical concert or any other public performance where live artists are playing.

    In any way, this will have a very democratic implementation: If people rush into these "early adopters" theaters that jam cells, more and more will adopt the system, and the mass will be pleased.

  12. Re:First Post? by Tiram · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What the other comments said, and then some. That "occasional beep" may be only a minor annoyance to you, but if it happens smack in the middle of a suspense scene or a romantic moment it's damned irritating to everyone else! If it's that important to you to be in touch all the time, rent a movie instead. Your availability isn't at all important to all the others who paid to watch a movie.

    In fact, a mobile beeping is irritating no matter when it happens. And most of them don't just beep, they play beethoven's 5th or Britney Spears' latest "hit". Horrible.

    --
    The knuckles, the horrible knuckles!
    (I'm a girl, you know)
  13. Re:Emergency Calls? by Threni · · Score: 2, Insightful

    > How do they allow emergency calls through?

    People tend to make emergency calls, not receive them. If you want to receive emergency calls then you need to go somewhere where you are able to receive them unimpeded. Perhaps such people can have modified phones which alert the owner to the fact that they are now uncontactable. Of course, this could make more noise than it cures. But as a classical music concert goer, I have to say that if a few people find out that their dog has died or whatever a few hours later than they would normally done then it's a small price to pay for a peaceful musical experience.

  14. This idea sucks. by syukton · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The problem with cellphones are twofold: People use them where they aren't supposed to (ie, taking calls during a movie) and people forget to turn off their ringers. Why don't we solve THESE PROBLEMS instead of CREATING NEW ONES by eliminating this mode of communication all together?

    How about an RFID chip which, based on its proximity to certain defined locations, would automatically switch your phone into vibrate mode, or display a message onscreen such as "Please leave this Quiet Area to receive this call" instead of this draconian jam-all-calls-but-"emergencies" sort of thing. I would like it if I'm in a movie and somebody is trying to alert me of, say, my mom having a heart attack (which *I* consider an emergency), and I could get that notification immediately. It is not too much trouble to step outside the theater, and all things considered, if it's an emergency I'm likely to be leaving the theater ASAP anyhow.

    I'm all for making it mandatory that phones automatically switch into vibrate mode when they are carried into libraries, schools, theaters, and so forth. It doesn't necessarily have to be vibrate mode, it could be an RGB LED which flashes a given color (any given color, as it's an RGB LED) depending on incoming call / incoming call from XYZ person / incoming text message / you have new voicemail / whatever. Just as long as it's silent and not so bright as to make anyone freak out in a theater/school/whatever.

    The point is: silence. People don't want to be bothered with others around them taking cellphone calls and they don't want to hear other peoples' cellphones ring, but only under certain circumstances. ADDRESS THESE ISSUES DIRECTLY, don't create a blanket which covers these issues and more, a blanket which creates more problems and more public unrest instead of relieving the public as intended.

    In sum: this idea sucks and a better one could be had.

    --
    Reinvent the wheel only at either a lower cost, greater effectiveness, or your own personal enrichment and satisfaction.
    1. Re:This idea sucks. by Mr_Silver · · Score: 4, Insightful
      In sum: this idea sucks and a better one could be had.

      A good point - but, you've completely forgotten a few things:

      1. Hardware manufacturers design products 1-2 years in advance. Therefore for the implementation of an RFID chip, you're looking at at least a year.
      2. A protocol would need to be devised that all the manufacturers agree on (both handsets and the systems that will trigger them)
      3. People would need to purchase these phones. Typically they'd be on high tier phones first. A phones lifetime is approximately 18 months before they are on low tier (ie. your pay-as-you-go mass market) where adopotion is the greatest.
      4. You'd need all the phones to adopt this before it would work. The first WAP phone I saw was in 1996 (and i'm pretty sure that they were around before then) and only now is it commonplace enough for companies to sell content through it. That is a lead time of 8 years.
      So in short, it's a great idea, but you're looking at 8 years+ before its going to be installed on enough handsets to actually work in the cinema. What is the point of blocking 20% of the handsets, when its one of the other 80% that ring?

      Alternativily you could implement signal blocking today which will work on every phone the moment it is turned on.

      Sometimes the best ideas aren't the most practical to implement.

      --
      Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
  15. What did people do *before* cellphones? by blorg · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It wasn't that long ago, you know. Did parents never take a night off with a trusted babysitter at home? If you want to, you can call home yourself once or twice to check on things - just not in the middle of the movie!

    People who *really* need to be contacted (doctors on call, for example) had pagers; and a blocking system based on a mini-cell station could be configured to allow such urgent calls/text messages through.

    And you are quite wrong about the annoyance value of mobile phone conversations - a study has found them to be dramatically more annoying than face-to-face conversations, probably due to the one-way nature.

  16. Faraday cage, anybody? by shepd · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why aren't new theatres being built with a grounded screen sandwiched inside the walls? We're not exactly talking megabucks to do this when you're building the theatre, and, AFAIK, there's no law against simply making it impossible for signals to enter a space.

    I'm sure someone will say "what about emergency calls?" What about them? Your phone quits when you go in a tunnel, it quits when you're in some buildings, it quits when you're on the fringe of town. And, unlike that theatre, those places won't even be signed as "cellular service unavailable".

    Oh yeah, as far as doctors being on 24-7 call missing their major emergency call, there's so many other ways they can miss such a call daily (on the toilet, having a shower, under a tunnel, out of batteries, whaterver) I am 100% certain the hospital has a backup plan (ie: Call another doctor).

    --
    If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
  17. Phones don't annoy people... assholes annoy people by caitsith01 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    it's not the phone that's the problem, it's those assholes

    Well obviously.

    How do we manage the 'assholes'? Let them piss us off by taking calls during the movie/conference/lecture? Or block their asshomophone so that their asshole friends can't call them repeatedly to chat about the latest in asshole fashions? I know which I think is better for the non-assholes of the world.

    Likewise regarding the silent vibrate feature on most phones - OF COURSE it would not be annoying if people all turned their phones to silent in cinemas/lecture theatres/conferences, provided of course that they didn't answer any calls and start talking. The problem, as you astutely point out, is assholes. They won't remember to turn their phone to silent. How often do you see everyone lunge to turn their own phones to silent when the first asshole's phone goes off? The reason - none of those lunging people (aka 'potential future assholes') remembered to turn their phone to silent either.

    Yes, it's considered EXTREMELY RUDE (sic) to take calls in a theatre. This does not stop your average asshole. If I can encourage cinemas and universities to install the Asshol-Blok 5000, with asshole-silencing technology, I will.

    --
    Read Pynchon.
  18. Who needs to be contacted 24/7? by Amata · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How about emergency personnel, such as EMTs and Firemen? I'm from a rural area, where these people work on a voluntary basis. They get paid per call, so they have "normal" lives, they just get called in for emergencies. There's noone sitting in an office 24/7 just in case something happens, other than the person to relay the calls to the actual workers.

    A buddy of mine who is a volunteer fireman has a pager at all times. I've seen him have to take off from all sorts of situations to respond to calls. That would be one person that I *hope* would still be able to get his calls in the middle of a movie theatre.

    Other than that I can't think of any other examples, tho.

    1. Re:Who needs to be contacted 24/7? by caitsith01 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah, but these people are special cases, and special cases can be dealt with individually. As you already noted, pagers are a very good solution, and firemen and other action heroes can wear them all the time on the silent-vibrate function as a matter of course. These people could also get CDMA phones so that they are not on the GSM network like ordinary phone-abusers.

      I would still be overjoyed if that non-fireman fucktard three rows in front of me couldn't discuss the weather with his buddy while I'm watching the movie I just paid $15 for.

      --
      Read Pynchon.
    2. Re:Who needs to be contacted 24/7? by Amata · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Which leads me to one, main question .

      My cell phone is always, always set to vibrate. I NEVER set it to ring. When a call does come in, I excuse myself from the theatre, and answer the call in the thatre lobby. Why doesn't everybody else do the same thing? Simple, common sense.

      Because common sense isn't.

  19. What about personal emergencies? by mccalli · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I keep my phone on the cinema, but on silent. My reason is simple - I have kids, and if the babysitter needs to contact me for an emergency I don't want them to have to wait until after the film. Silent is the compromise - it still vibrates to let me know of the call, and I can leave the room to take it.

    This system would block the sitter's call to me, yet that is no less valid as an emergency than a 999 call is.

    Nope - I'd like to be in favour of a tech. solution to this problem, but the difficulty in knowing what's important and what isn't cannot be surmounted by base-station filtering. The only answer is just to throw the offenders out.

    Cheers,
    Ian

    1. Re:What about personal emergencies? by radja · · Score: 2, Insightful

      tell the sitter you've gone to the movies, and to what theatre. for real emergencies, call the theatre. problem solved.

      --

      No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness.
      --Sheikh Abd-Al-Kadir, 1587
  20. Re:First Post? by BasilBrush · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Yeah right. Selfish bastards like you always blame it on others. Not one person in a theatre taking calls, making SMSs, talking to their friends, or disturbing people by their coming and going thinks they are wrong.

    It's not the people blaming you for being anti-social that are idiots.

    Switch your phone off in the theatre. If you think you are too necessary to someone elses life to be uncontactable for the length of a movie, get a DVD player and stay at home.

  21. Re:Emergency Calls? by Red+Pointy+Tail · · Score: 3, Insightful


    If this is implemented and my phone ever jangles 2 hours into a movie, I'll probably piss in panic first.

  22. Re:Emergency Calls? by MmmDee · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Is it really necessary to be reachable while you're at the cinema? No. And if it is necessary, you shouldn't be at the cinema.

    You're not a parent, are you... I think by the very nature of "emergency", it's something unplanned. Are you suggesting that anyone/everyone that might have an emergency occur in their life, avoid the cinema? You must be better able to predict those things than most folks I know. To be sure, there's a distinction between, "Like oh my god Britney, James called me and I just had to tell you!" and "Mrs. Johnson, this is Amber the baby sitter, I just noticed that Timothy feels very warm, should I call the pediatrician?" Courtesy suggests remembering to put the phone on vibrate, and to leave the theater's sitting area to take the call. I and many other parents and professionals have had to do this often.

    --
    No man's an island, unless he's had too much to drink and wets the bed.
  23. Re:First Post? by BasilBrush · · Score: 3, Insightful
    So the phone vibrates, the person digs into their pocket/purse and brings out their phone, and reads the SMS. And the people next to them and in a 45 degree arc all the way back behind them in the cinema is distracted by this light appearing. Then ordinarily, that person will type in a response, thus extending the distraction. And if they choose to leave, then that's yet another distraction.

    People that like cinema go to the theatre to escape for a while. If you don't want to do that, and aren't prepared to cut the umbilical cord for a couple of hours, then don't go to the movies. Watch a DVD.

    What do you think people did 10 and more years ago when most people didn't even own a phone? Do you think they never went out because they couldn't afford to be out of touch?

  24. Can I take these jammers with me on a date? by TheLoneCabbage · · Score: 5, Insightful


    Here's something you won't read too often on /.

    #1 pet-peve on a date, just short of picking your nose, is picking up a cell phone.

    I take my phone with me, and it goes OFF the second I am within talking distance of my date. If it goes back on again, that means I'm more concerned about a random friend asking me (for the 50th time) what sites are best for downloading mp3s, than I am in the flow of our conversation.

    Is there anything more uncomfortable than to be mid-stride in conversation, and having that blasted ring interupt. So now she's giving driving directions to a friend and your picking at your food. (or your nose, as at this point it's a lost cause)

    So help me, if that phone rings it better be your family priest/rabbi/immam telling you that your mother/brother/father/sister/dog is dieing.

    Now that I think about it, I don't want a portable jammer with me on a date. I want to know as soon as possible that the womman is a classless waste of my time.

    Here's a better idea though. Let's install electroshock devices on cell phones, that are like that video game James Bond (Sean Connery) played in "Never Say Never Again". When you start talking it's all good, but as time passes the voltage/pain goes up. If the conversation isn't worth having you hang up before you have to feel the pain of everyone else sitting near you.

  25. Re:Emergency Calls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    there were days without cell phones.. and parents went to the theatre anyway ....

  26. Re:Emergency Calls? by rtz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Nope. According to the article;

    "Devedjian specified however that emergency calls and calls made outside theaters and other performance spaces must not be affected."


    So they indeed have to implement some sort of selective jamming.
  27. Re:Emergency Calls? by The+Limp+Devil · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And while it might or might not irritate you in a movie theater, think about a real theater, a classical concert or any other public performance where live artists are playing.

    I can't even begin to tell you how frustrating it is to have my lectures interrupted by students' cell phones ringing. One student didn't even bother to turn off her cell phone during her oral exam, as we found out when it rang midway through the examination.

    I would certainly welcome a cell phone blocker in my class rooms.

  28. Re:Pointless by Moskit · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That comment is pointless, no insightful.

    "Emergency calls" means for example that if someone at the audience has a heart attack, it is possible to call emergency right away, even if jamming is active for other calls.

    It doesn't apply to receiving calls from outside. While I agree that people "on-call" shouldn't go to the cinema, original poster most likely misunderstood the intent.

  29. Re:First Post? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "All I can say is, damn, that's a good idea. I mean, seriously, it should be a law that you can't have a cell phone in a movie theatre."

    Don't you think we have enough laws trying to govern common sense already? I guess not. Empower the public and you wouldn't need the laws, which is what they are doing in this case.

    If you want more laws, move to another country. It is people like you that brings the Patriot Act to the table. *grumble* *rant*

  30. Re:Emergency Calls? by MmmDee · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yep, and in another reply here somewhere I mentioned that parents/business people/relatives left phone numbers with others as to where they'd be during the day and evening. It was common to have 4 or 5+ phone numbers on the refrigerator outlining the course of a night's outing (friend's house, restaurant, theater, nightclub). Each of these places knew that someone might call. On arriving to a friend's house, you'd say, "I left your number with the sitter, hope that's okay." Restaurants, theaters, and nightclubs had PA systems or wait-staff and ushers to ask among their patrons looking for recipients of emergency calls. Believe me, "emergencies" are not a creation of the new millennium or the now/me generation. They have been around awhile and people (especially parents) have always pre-arranged someway to be contacted.

    --
    No man's an island, unless he's had too much to drink and wets the bed.
  31. Excellent idea ! by TractorBarry · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is an excellent first step.

    Next I'd like to see the use of mobile phones being given the same social status as smoking i.e. not allowed in enclosed public places such as pubs, restaurants, theatres, buses etc. etc.

    If you want to make or receive calls you can go outside with the smokers. (Actually wait a minute I'm a smoker so fsck that, they'll have to have the other side of the entrance)

    In the case of trains there should be a single carriage in which you can send and receive calls.

    For fucks sake society functioned perfectly well before these intrusive, obnoxious devices. If I were to start carrying round a trumpet and intermittently playing it tunelessly and loudly then shouting away to myself I'd get arrested/battered pretty quickly.

    As usual its not the technologys fault but the fucking morons who are misusing it...

    Now what I'd really like is a portable, unobtrusive, mobile jammer that would put a 5 metre "Phone disruptor" screen around myself.

    --
    Sky subscribers are morons. They pay to be advertised at !
  32. Re: So dumb, when we resort to technology by gidds · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Exactly. If the problem is inconsiderate and antisocial behaviour, then fight inconsiderate and antisocial behaviour!

    This is exactly comparable to the current fuss about P2P software. Mobile phones have perfectly legitimate and non-infringing uses. (SMS messages, for example. Genuine life-or-death emergencies. Incoming calls where the user doesn't speak, or leaves the cinema before speaking.) Jamming prevents all those, whilst still allowing all the antisocial behaviour people have the rudeness to pull off!

    A jammer is just a tool for management too cowardly to enforce a proper nuisance policy.

    And of course, this is the thin end of the wedge. If jammers become accepted in cinemas, theatres and churches, they may well spread to restaurants, galleries, museums, shops, cafés, pubs, stations, workplaces...

    What's worse is that in this case there is a possible technological measure that would do pretty much what people want. Instead of jamming the phones, how about a short-range transmitter which told the phones to go into 'silent mode', turning off the ringtone, and maybe the microphone, whilst still allowing vibrating alerts, text messages, and maybe incoming calls. It's a bit more technology than phones currently have, but it can't be too hard to implement.

    --

    Ceterum censeo subscriptionem esse delendam.

  33. Re:Emergency Calls? by animaal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's the responsibility of a surgeon to remain contactable when on-call. This means not having the phone turned off, and not spending time in places where there is no reception (e.g. the cinema with a sign saying "no phone reception here").

    Of course, if the cinema doesn't have very obvious warnings, there could be trouble.

  34. Re:Emergency Calls? by jdreed1024 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    It does allow movie theaters to implement something, and the public will decide if they prefer going to a theater that allow cells or not.

    They better damn well inform me in big letters on the back of my ticket that my cell phone is jammed. I've taken my phone into theaters (on vibrate), and I've had to leave in the middle of shows because I've gotten a call or SMS, but that's something I'm prepared to do, and plenty of people used to have pagers and also had to leave in the middle of the show, so it's nothing new.

    Why should I be penalized just because some retard either can't figure out how to turn his phone to vibrate or thinks everyone should hear Mozart's "Ode to the Piezoeletric Buzzer"?

    In fact, I'm confused. Everyone gets all up in arms when some big mean company tries to restrict 802.11b, or blocks local hotspots by installing their own for-pay system, or whatever, but when the *movie theaters* (I thought we hated big media and the MPAA?) start jamming cell phone tranmissions (which are more useful than 802.11b to the average user), it's suddenly a great idea? I don't get it.

    People with ringtones on in theaters is a social problem. Social problems cannot be solved by technical means. Even if you jam cellphones, they're still going to be talking loudly, or having some kid playing his gameboy, or crying, or throwing popcorn, or whatever. It won't solve anything. What they should do is take the money they were going to use for this, hire a couple of bouncers, and if your cell phone rings, you are asked to leave and you get your money back (or maybe a gift card, to prevent people from getting calls in the last frame of the movie and then getting money back), as per the back of your ticket. End of story.

    --
    There is no sig, there is only Zuul.
  35. The answer is called a pager by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Far simpler and far more reliable, since it consumers less power and doesn't need to transmit it needs very towers.

    Set it to vibrate. When it goes off the doctor leaves the theather and makes the call. All problems solved. Just like they do it already and did it long before cell phones existed.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

  36. Re:Emergency Calls? by DaScribbler · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The flaw in this line of thinking is your complete lack of discipline in monitoring the functionality of your own phone. You said it yourself, If I actually remember to turn my phone off when I enter a theatre, I forget to turn it back on when I leave.

    That's your own negligence for which you should be accountable. As should everybody else who's toting their phones around with them in places where quiet is proper etiquette.

    Suddenly there's this HUGE issue of emergency situations and cell phones. As if those of us who were living 20 years ago are extraordinarily lucky to have survived without cell phones. As if the odds were astronomical.

  37. The FRENCH are enforcing courtesy? by erik_fredricks · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wow. They MAY actually be ahead of us in some respects.

    Sorry, but I'll repeat what's already been said here: if it's so $%&*ing important, take care of it elsewhere. You have no right to inflict your lack of courtesy on others.

    The last time I went to see the Emerson Quartet perform in Atlanta (which has the rudest audiences I've ever seen), the whole experience was repeatedly interrupted by ringing and "hushed" conversations. It screwed up the audience's (and worse) the performers' concentration and made the whole performance an excercise in frustration. I paid sixty bucks--I deserve to enjoy it.

    --

    THE GOOD HUMOR MAN CAN ONLY BE PUSHED SO FAR
    Bart Simpson on chalkboard in episode 2F18

  38. Re:Emergency Calls? by infinite9 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What constitutes an emergency? What if the babysitter had to call 911? That call would come from my home phone. Fuck the movie, I want that call.

    --
    Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.
  39. Re:Emergency Calls? by golgotha007 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    if that's the case, please rent your movies instead. Your conditions are obviously not satisfactory enough to attend a public showing of a film.

  40. Re:Emergency Calls? by anakin876 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Well, in my experience there are people who also seem to be incapable of noticing that YES it is THEIR phone and who will then leave it ringing for a minute or two.

    Especially when the professor starts out the semester by stating that no cell phones should be turned on in his/her class and then to have a cell phone or two go off every day is quite annoying to me. Why not put it on vibrate? Or turn it off? Aren't we supposed to be paying attention to the professor's lecture? It is fairly rare that the phone call is an actual emergency, the few times I have noticed people answering the phone it has been for something like "what are we doing tonight."

    Yes it is a lack of respect thing. Whiel I should be able to ignore a cell phone, they should also have the courtesy to turn it off/silence it for a lecture.

  41. Re:Emergency Calls? by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If I'm paying thousands of dollars in tuition (and working my ass off to pay that tuition), I would be happy to have a professor that deals with assholes in such a manner. When someone is being disruptive in class and taking away from my educational experience, they need to be bitch-slapped. If you don't have basic manners by the time you reach college, you need some hard knocks for your own good before getting into the real world.

  42. Re:Emergency Calls? by Al+Dimond · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As an undergrad student, I'll say that I'm very annoyed by cell phones going off in class. It's the same as the people in the back of the room talking to eachother about the blood-oaths they had to take to join their frat. While I do think that generally in class it's best to ask students to turn off cell phones, in exams I think a penalty is absolutely appropriate. Phones with screens could be used to cheat on exams when students reach to turn them off.

    Allowing your phone to go off in class is disrespectful, just as is in-class chatter, and most students go to class to hear the professor and not phone noise.

  43. Sounds good, but isn't by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    This is a bit of a complicated issue....you can't jam rooms selectively. For instance, everyone seems cool with phones being jammed in a lecture....but what about the hallway? Calls are jammed there too, even if someone is walking by. Why should their calls be interrupted? (granted, they shouldn't talk loudly in the hall)
    Or what about rooms in a building where no meeting is taking place? Shouldn't I be able to call from there?

    What bothers me about this measure is the famous slippery slopy. Now it's movie theaters. Pretty soon it will be the whole public sphere - restaurants, museums, cafes, everywhere. Using a cell phone could become like smoking is now - marginalized and vaguely dirty - you'll see people huddling outside of buildings, giving passersby surrpetitious glances as they whisper into their cell phones.

    Basically, the deal is this - if using cell-phones in a theater is a Bad Thing (tm), then we could make it illegal, and arrest/fine/sue people for using them. If we're not making it illegal, businesses don't have the right to combat it using vigilante tactics. You can't allow some portion of society to enforce their views on others. Really Bad Things (tm) happen when you do that.

    The real solution would be for people to be respectful and well-mannered, but hey, this is the 21st century! We live ultra-fast-paced lives and don't have time for such shit. Much better to create problems, and in solving them, create more.

    Btw, the idea about movie theaters putting reminder reels before the movie sounds nearly perfect - it does remind people without being draconian.

  44. Re:Emergency Calls? by dubl-u · · Score: 2, Insightful

    People with ringtones on in theaters is a social problem. Social problems cannot be solved by technical means.

    That's a reasonable heuristic, but it's foolish to state it as a general law and then make deductions from it. Theft is a social problem, but very few people bother stealing from vending machines these days because the anti-theft technology makes it so hard.

    And really, I don't think this is a social problem. The main problem here is not that people are trying to be jerks, it's that they forget to turn off their phones and may thoughtlessly and reflexively answer them when they ring.

    Even if you jam cellphones, they're still going to be talking loudly, or having some kid playing his gameboy, or crying, or throwing popcorn, or whatever. It won't solve anything.

    Good theory. Alas, my data doesn't support it. The last three times this happened to me, it was in the middle of the movie and the culprit had been quiet up until then and was apologetic afterwards. So although jamming might not, technically, solve anything, it would improve things a fair bit.

    What they should do is take the money they were going to use for this, hire a couple of bouncers[...]. End of story.

    Ok, figure it costs $5k per theater to set this up. How long can you pay a bouncer per theater on that money? I make it less than half a year before you let the bouncers go. What do you plan to do then?

  45. Re:My god this makes me feel old... by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I was a theater usher in 2001 and I did this all the time for people. They were always polite about it, and I was always polite to them... you don't realize how BORING it is to be an usher when all the movies are going. It's like 10 minutes of work between features, then 1:30 of sweeping before the features let out. I'd MUCH rather go fetch people in theaters than sweep the halls. Plus, sometimes I got tipped.

  46. Re:Emergency Calls? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    What did you do before cell phones? Or are you too young to remember?

  47. Re:Emergency Calls? by Puff+Daddy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Good, so say someone has a phone and knows to set it on vibrate. Now say that person's house lights on fire and they get a call about it. In your version of the world, since other people don't know how to put their phone on vibrate, this guy doesn't get to know about his house until the movie's over. I know its an unusual situation, but it'll be a cold decade in hell before I let the French government say when I can and can't use my phone. Oh, and to all the people who ask what we did before cell phones I ask, "does it matter?".

  48. Unjustly penalized by edsterino · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why should I be penalized just because some retard either can't figure out how to turn his phone to vibrate or thinks everyone should hear Mozart's "Ode to the Piezoeletric Buzzer"?

    You get penalized for the same reason other decent people do because they do the decent thing:
    - You pay higher insurance because there are uninsured drivers
    - You pay higher taxes because you need a police force because there are criminals out there
    - You pay higher taxes because some people don't pay their share
    - You die younger because other people smoke
    - You die younger because of pollution
    - In Singapore, you can't buy gum because a small number of dickwads used to spit their's on the sidewalk. (I imagine there are similar statutes closer to home but none come to mind)
    ... and so on ...

    It sucks. It would be nice if some of these things got rolled back once society got the message but that unfortunately rarelh happens.

  49. Re:Trust the french by Craig+Davison · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Actually, this is exactly what you'd see in your libertarian fantasy world. The government is _not restricting_ the freedom of the theatres to block cellphone signals if they wish. It's private property.

    "Taking away freedom" would be for the gov't to make it illegal for any business to implement this, or forcing all businesses to implement this.

  50. Re:Emergency Calls? by Proteus · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Fuck the movie, I want that call.
    Here's a thought. Have the sitter call the theater, and the usher can come and get you. It's less disturbing, and people are less likely to abuse it.

    Yeah, so it takes a minute longer. None of the scenarios I've seen are likely to suffer from a minute or two delay. People did manage to receive emergency phone calls before cell phones. They also did things like find capable baby-sitters.

    Yeah, I can see why you'd want to know ASAP if little Betty broke her arm while you were away. Use your cellphone to call the sitter -- outside the theater -- and make sure she knows what movie you're in and what the theater's phone number is. Then, let it be blocked during the film. A delay of a few minutes before you find out about that isn't the end of the world.

    In reality, the number of people who get calls from a girl/boyfriend or somesuch during a movie far outnumber those who get emergency calls. So, since the theater is more than willing to convey emergency messages, why have the cellphone on?
    --
    We may not imagine how our lives could be more frustrating and complex—but Congress can. – Cullen Hightower