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South Carolina Wants To Jam Cell Phone Signals
Corey Brook writes "The South Carolina state prison system wants the FCC to grant them and local officers permission to block cell phone signals. News has been out about the growing problem of them perps smuggling cell phones into prisons for a while now. Inmates use cell phones as commerce, to implement fraud, smuggle drugs and weapons, and to order hits. Of course, some may use it to just talk to a loved one any time they can." Hopefully movie theaters and restaurants do it next.
What in the hell are inmates doing with cell phones in the first place?
In an environment where even the smallest improvised weapon can be found and confiscated, you'd think it would be drop-easy for the prison to find and confiscate a cell phone. Any inmate caught with one gets n weeks/months added to their sentence... problem solved.
Seriously - it's prison, not a Hilton, FFS - if they need to use a phone (for speaking to their lawyer, loved-ones, etc), let 'em use a POTS phone wired into a wall somewhere.
The solution the SC prison system is looking for? It's akin to wrapping ships in Saran Wrap to fix any potential leaks - expensive and not very workable over time...
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
Yes, because if there is one thing that I would wish of my theatre- and restaurant- going experiences, would be that they be more like prison. :P
Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati
Or, you know, you could be annoyed by flickers of light you see with your peripheral vision.
"I think it would be a good idea!"
Gandhi, about Internet Security
For a long time I agreed with this but then I realized the last place I want my phone blocked in an emergency is someplace with minimum wage workers (and probably managers.) And as obnoxious as a phone is in the theater, those are the same idiots who talk to the people they come with during the film anyways.
Hopefully movie theaters and restaurants do it next.
If the problem is the noise or the light from the screens, kick people out for breaking the rules (one warning for light, no warnings for talking, for example), but I really don't want us to make a habit of jamming RF devices. That's a bit like banning alcohol to keep people from driving drunk. What if there's a fire? A crime? A doctor with an emergency who knows how to stand up and walk out when he gets a call?
Heavy-handed solutions create tons of problems. Ask people to behave like respectful adults and kick them out the moment they fail to do so.
We don't need jammers in theatres and restaurants. What we need are old-fashioned ushers, and old-fashioned shaming. Some asshole keeps lighting up five rows down? Shout at him to quit it. If he gives you guff, go to the manager. You'll probably get a free ticket out of the deal, and he'll get turfed. If you're at a restaurant... well sorry, but you're at a restaurant. People socialize over food.
I'm pretty sure that all signals leak to some extent. If he claims no leakage at all, then he's already making ill-informed claims.
OK they claim they're smuggling cellphones into prisons somehow (heh I wonder if they put them in vibrate mode ;) ).
To me the big problem really is that if they can smuggle in stuff the size of a cellphone they can smuggle in lots of other more dangerous stuff.
I don't get why are cellphones themselves a problem, and why the solution is jamming them. After all:
1) If you're actually going to use the cellphones to communicate wirelessly (rather than use them to play games or other stuff), they will emit a very detectable signal.
So it's trivial to find them if they're on.
2) It's a prison, if prisoners are not allowed cellphones, guards can probably walk in at any time, and confiscate them after detecting them by whatever means. And the culprits involved get the usual punishment stuff.
3) The prison could put their own cell stations and listen in. For typical GSM stuff, while the comms between the phone and the base stations are encrypted (albeit intentionally weakened crypto), the comms from the base station to the rest of the network is in plaintext. No really expensive fancy stuff needed.
"Of course, some may use it to just talk to a loved one any time they can."
Oh, don't you just feel so bad for those poor prisoners who just want to talk to a loved one? Quick, someone cue the sad violin music! Next time try not to commit a felony jackass. It really isn't that hard. All it takes is demonstrating a little concern for those around you rather than focusing on satisfying your needs at all costs.
So anyone who works in the medical field should just have to forgo going to the movies? What about people with kids and a babysitter at home that needs to reach them? Wouldn't a better solution be for the fucking theaters to employ ushers again, whom could presumably stop people from abusing their cell phones while the movie is playing?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
you do NOT get to do whatever you want whenever you want. Those rights were temporarily forfeited upon conviction.
Um, I've never been convicted and I still don't get to do whatever I want whenever I want. In fact, if I did that, I could go to jail!
The only surefire protection against Microsoft infections is abstinence. - The Onion
its not inmates with cellphones coming in at intake, and its probably unlikely that anyone other than a CORRECTIONS OFFICER gets a phone in for someone. the real issue is corruption here. i doubt a CO would smuggle a gun in for you at any cost, but a cell phone... well everyone has a price i guess. i think south carolinas first move should be to investigate how so many cell phones get inside in the first place.
I'd be sad. I'm on call, so I take my phone with me, set it to silent, and leave the cinema if I get called out - this happens very rarely on a saturday afternoon, but there would be trouble if I knowingly went somewhere there was no phone coverage.
That's 'cos eating still trumps talking for most people.
How many people are going to sit there yakking while their food goes cold? Not too many.
Food is pretty much up there with sex as far as primal instincts go.
No sig today...
> The cinema's phone blocker could easily detect 911 calls and turn off the the blocking if it detected one.
Really? Easily?
Care to describe how it could easily detect 911 calls, without actually being a cellular base station in its own right?
Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
Prisoners still have rights. Its easy to fight for the rights of people you like. Its important to fight for the rights of people you don't like.
Where there no emergencies or on-call before cell phones existed?
No one cares what your captcha was
Houston TX, USA
I am sure that friend was not allowed to do a lot of other things. Sorry, you are on call, that means you are not able to go to a restaurant or movie. Tough luck. Talk to you employer for compensation.
The doctors I know all turn off their phone during the movie. OTOH they also send text messages to each other during operations, where mere mortals are not even allowed to turn on their phone. (Yes, during the operation.)
Restaurants do not give much problems here. People take the call outside after the phone was set to vibrate. If they would be on call, they would go outside every 30 minutes or so (like the smokers) and check if they have a message.
Doctors on emergency call that I know would not go to dinners, but stayed at home. They would do the same if there were blockers.
If those people do not like it, take a job that does not require you to be on call. I should not suffer from your career choice.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
But actually, I think letting prisoners have cell phones is a GOOD thing; that is, if we want to rehabilitate these people
How does giving them cell phones that they use to commit fraud help to rehabilitate them?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
We don't need jammers in theatres and restaurants.
Well, what we really need is more responsible people that think about other people around them a little.
Unfortunately, that is outside of your or mine or the theater management's area. We can't change those people. But we (that is, one of us, the management) can put in jammers.
It's not the perfect solution. But if the perfect solution is theoretical, a good practical solution will do.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Yeah, because all minimum wage workers are sooooooo stupid. Why, they can't figure out how to operate a regular phone. If the building catches fire they'll probably just stand there and burn to death rather than call for help. It's common knowledge that they're so dumb that they can't drive, read or write, tie their own shoes, and they have to be reminded to breathe occasionally.
Or maybe you're just an arrogant snob who really needs a reality check. Newsflash: a lot of those minimum wage workers you so pompously denigrated with one insulting generalization are students -- yes, even the older ones may well be students more often than you'd think -- and a great many of them have higher IQs than you or probably anyone you know. Just because you've apparently had someone give you a break so you never had to take one of those jobs doesn't mean everyone else is so fortunate. Other have had to work for a living while putting themselves through school. They didn't have Daddy set everything up for them so that they didn't have to take a menial job.
Yes, I know a great many minimum wage workers don't do a great job at work. That's often because they don't care to, since they're still treated like crap by both managers and customers even when they out-perform circles around their co-workers who come into work hungover and try to sneak in some tokes during the day. In most cases, there's very little future in addition to being treated like you're the scum of the earth, so why bother? After all, as you so aptly proved, even when they do a good job despite the lousy pay, the mistreatment from managers and rude customers, they're still going to be treated by crap even outside their jobs by jerks like you.
I dream of a better world... one in which chickens can cross roads without their motives being questioned.
That's not all. In prison, other things can get close to your mouth and nose you wouldn't want. That's why it's prison.
And do you think that it is acceptable? The punishment of prison is to remove a person's liberty, not to have them subjected to sexual and/or physical assualt while turning a blind eye. Don't you think that, as a nation, you ought to be protecting individuals who are on the receiving end of such treatment or are you going to advocate torture, gladiatorial contests and being thrown to the lions as acceptable punishments?
I am continually astounded that an advanced nation can condone such barbaric behaviour and then be affronted when other nations do not choose to follow the 'American' way. You know, things like 'If you are not with us, then you are against us....'. This behaviour actually makes terrorists look civilised.
Have a look at soylentnews.org for a different view
I would rather you hire someone competent to watch your child, stay home when your child is sick, put your phone on vibrate, and leave the room before you answer the call. In other words, not be a self-absorbed asshole.
As a comedian said, your private is invading our public.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
Last time I checked characterizing all minimum wage workers and the unsung heroes of the workforce, simply victimized by circumstance with a heart of gold, is just as misguided as characterizing all of them is incompetent.
Of course OP only needed one sentence, so points for efficiency.
For the cells, work areas, cafeteria, medical area, etc, you're probably right. If it's planned into the construction it's probably only a minor additional expense - And that would likely solve most of the problem.
However, passively blocking the exercise yard is going to be tough... I think out there you're going to have to go active or just hope that the guards will notice if somebody out there is mysteriously crouching and talking to their hand.
[Disclaimer - The only prison I've seen close-up is Alcatraz and I learned most of what I know of prison anatomy from movies & TV. They do have big out-door areas, right?]
He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
In male prisons there are tiers (usually 3) that range from white collar criminals (fraud, drug posession) to your serious felons (rape, murder). In female prisons, there is 1 tier (which is why there are more fights, injuries, and deaths per capita for females across the nation in state facilities). Declaring that prison should be unpleasant is small minded and truly an oversimplification of hard problems.
Often wrong but never in doubt.
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Everyone knows me.
It is a fallacy to assume that because there is sexual predation in some American prisons that the next logical step is to have wild animals maul prisoners for sport. In fact, in US Federal prison it is actually quite unusual. Are you sure that sexual predation is not a problem around the world as well? What about Turkish prisons for instance?
In the case of your argument your anti-American bias is quite clear. However, it does not logically follow that because there is sexual predation in some American prisons that the American people individually or as a nation are concerned one way or another how other countries choose to punish their criminals.
Even though it is moderated as insightful it comes across as a rant that comes to conclusions with fallacious reasoning. I am not sure if that was your intent or not.
Don't be silly. The government wouldn't be able to keep so many decent people in line if jail was just a time-out. Ordinary people might actually be willing to practice civil disobedience or other forms of protest if the worst that would happen is they'd spend time in a cage isolated from society. No, to let prison really keep people in line, the authorities rely on two things -- prison rape is #1, and your complete isolation from decent society even once you're out of prison is #2.
and dead prisoners.
Modding me -1 troll doesn't make me wrong.