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UK Prisons To Crack Down On Inmate Internet and Mobile Phone Use (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader writes: UK prisons will roll out enhanced internet and mobile phone blocking technologies, according to new measures announced yesterday by Chancellor George Osborne in the Autumn Statement. The step, which seeks to stop inmate access to the internet and calls made from mobile devices, will involve part of a £1.3bn investment from the Ministry of Justice to improve the country's Prison Service. Through this strategy, the government hopes to drive "safety improvements" by denying calls and data used on illicit mobile devices. The latest development in blocking technologies promises to be better (paywalled) than earlier systems, which inmates have been able to get around.
They have already proven that they can't handle reality and life on the outside, and Facebook isn't a human right.
They have already proven that the system is a failure, and this is not about Facebook.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
It's a utility because it's become how we control and organise our lives. Prisoners, who have minimal control over their lives as the prison service does that for them, do not need it to the same degree and it is therefore a luxury. They do have controlled access to communications, for example to contact their lawyers. This is about preventing uncontrolled communication which is widely used for arranging drug supply, continued control over their criminal networks and so on. While previous systems have obviously failed, and no system will ever be perfect, hopefully this new initiative will work out better than what has gone before.