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BART Defends Mobile Service Shutdown

Posted by Soulskill on from the ay-carumba dept.

itwbennett writes "In a filing to the FCC, Bay Area Rapid Transit general manager Grace Crunican defended last August's mobile shutdown, saying that 'a temporary disruption of cell phone service, under extreme circumstances where harm and destruction are imminent, is a necessary tool to protect passengers.' Taking the opposing position, digital rights groups, including Public Knowledge, Free Press, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Democracy and Technology, told the FCC (PDF) that 'wireless interruption will necessarily prohibit the communications of completely innocent parties — precisely those parties closest to the site where the emergency is located or anticipated.'"

5 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. Next they'll turn off the power by SirBitBucket · · Score: 5, Funny

    In the interest of the greater good...

    1. Re:Next they'll turn off the power by fido_dogstoyevsky · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Temporarily turning off resources to contain mob behavior is not silencing political speech.

      Unless the mob behaviour is protesting against the latest thing the government did but shouldn't have / didn't do but should have.

      Or is it really to prevent Western Spring?

      (Sorry, forgot to put my foil helmet on this morning)

      --
      It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
    2. Re:Next they'll turn off the power by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You are only listening to the BART side of the story.

      First, it's not just data that was shut down, but voice as well.

      Second. Imagine if a fire broke out, or you had a heart attack, or somebody was being attacked; How would you report it without your phone working?

      Third. The only reason BART shut it down was because they wanted to prevent any kind of protests against them (BART police shot a suspect at point blank range, while the suspect was pinned on the ground by multiple police officers).

      Fourth. interfearing with communications are the acts of totalitarian governments around the world, and it is not compatible with Freedom.

  2. They need to quit the lying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The real reason they shut off cell phone service was to disrupt the electronic communication of the organizers of the protest. If there was a 'safety' reason, it was to disrupt the protest in the interest of safety. Down that path lies the complete elimination of public assembly 'in the interest of safety'.

        I could see their argument if say they had a credible threat of a cellphone-triggered bomb, but trying to disrupt a protest's electronic communication does NOT cut it.

  3. In other words... by tlhIngan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So for all transit operators out there, the apparent takeaway from all this is to not provide any form of cell service in weak areas. Offering a repeater that you can control, and disabling it can be considered a breech of freedoms and make you liable.

    Better to just avoid the whole issue and not do anything that'll make your commuters happier. If they want cell service, they can lobby their cell carriers to point antennas directed into the tunnels themselves. And nevermind emergencies - there's always the emergency phones in the trains.

    Anyone who wants to text and use their cellphone, can drive instead.