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FCC Formalizes Massive Fines For Selling, Using Cell-Phone Jammers (networkworld.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Network World: Two years ago the FCC announced its intention to fine a Chinese electronics maker $34.9 million and a Florida man $48,000 for respectively selling and using illegal cell-phone jammers. Today the agency has issued press releases telling us that those fines have finally been made official, without either of the offending parties having bothered to mount a formal defense of their actions. From the press release announcing the fine against CTS. Technology: "[...] The company's website falsely claimed that some jammers had been approved by the FCC, and advertised that the company could ship signal jammers to consumers in the United States." The company did not respond to the FCC's allegations, although the agency does report that changes were made to its website that appear to be aimed at complying with U.S. law. Next up is Florida man, Jason R. Humphreys, who is alleged to have used a jammer on his commute: "Mr. Humphreys' illegal operation of the jammer continued for up to two years, caused interference to cellular service along Interstate 4, and disrupted police communications." Last Fall, a Chicagoan was arrested for using a cell-phone jammer to make his subway commute more tolerable.
Now just strap a jammer on a drone...Profit!!!
Stingrays, (aka Cell-site simulators, IMSI catchers) also violate these FCC regulations and ARE in WIDE use by law enforcement in the US from the federal level all the way down to small town police departments and many misc. state and federal agencies. And I'd argue that intercepting, monitoring, and recording all cell activity in an area, almost always without a warrant, is a far more egregious crime than just jamming cell devices nearby. But its been made pretty clear the laws no longer apply to those who "enforce them" on the plebes...
Have you never seen The Core? You're going to kill people with an EMP.
Or at least, add a complementary toast mode.
When law-enforcement plays with these toys, that means they too are interfering with legitimate signals and communication.
Law enforcement officers are Not exempt from the FCC regulations, regarding usage and respect of spectrum allocations. For example, their radios are not allowed to transmit outside their assigned or frequencies licensed for that purpose, with a radio that is approved for the service it is operating in.
Cops are prohibited from transmitting a jamming signal, just like you are, even if they believe that they might have some legitimate cause to pursue that course, they could still be subject personally to FCC fines, penalties, or imprisonment with a felony charge, even if their local chief of police asked them to do it.
They should also take unlicensed emissions seriously. Why aren't they imposing significant fines on the use of Stingrays without a warrant?
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
How about a way to stop idiots blasting terrible music from their phones and annoying everyone else on the train/bus.
The thing was knocking police radio off air, and no doubt ambulance comms and so on. He got off lightly.
Excuse the Unicode crap in my posts. That's an apostrophe, and slashdot is busted.
These two stories about jammers seem to indicate that the only reason these people got caught is that they had dumb jammers that just continuously broadcast, making their triangulation easy.
Where are the smart jammers that operate at low power thresholds and operate intermittently -- some pattern of briefly on, then off, then on again, in a kind of random backoff cycle before going off? Or have some kind of passive radio detection to not transmit unless there is a nearby handset in use signature?
The idea would be a jammer that produced enough interference to disrupt and discourage use in a narrow local window, but with a limited on profile such that it was much harder to detect.
I now average about 6 telemarketer phone calls per day on my mobile, to the point I have to even shut off vibrate along with the ringer. I know this is more of an FTC issue, but this is becoming ridiculous and 'Do Not Call' is a fucking joke (as is my pre-pay carrier that allows me to block a grand total of 5 phone numbers). If DNC and the carriers (which are no doubt making bank off telemarketers) were serious, we would be able to instantly flag a number calling us directly within the phone interface.
I wish there was a black list phone app that would block (as in not even trigger the phone circuitry) any phone number I flag, but I'm sure such a thing would ironically (or regulatory captured) be expressly forbidden by said FCC.
I doubt it was any safer - I'd actually expect the opposite. If they were talking on the phone while driving, and then the call suddenly drops, they're probably going to be *more* distracted, not less.
Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
So what does the use of WiFi devices which are already approved by the FCC fall under when they are used to spoof or deauthenticate other WiFi devices?