What will they think of next?

[babylonsister]

There have been occasions where this would have been mighty tempting...


Devices Enforce Cellular Silence, Sweet but Illegal

By MATT RICHTEL
Published: November 4, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 2 — One afternoon in early September, an architect boarded his commuter train and became a cellphone vigilante. He sat down next to a 20-something woman who he said was “blabbing away” into her phone.

“She was using the word ‘like’ all the time. She sounded like a Valley Girl,” said the architect, Andrew, who declined to give his last name because what he did next was illegal.

Andrew reached into his shirt pocket and pushed a button on a black device the size of a cigarette pack. It sent out a powerful radio signal that cut off the chatterer’s cellphone transmission — and any others in a 30-foot radius.

“She kept talking into her phone for about 30 seconds before she realized there was no one listening on the other end,” he said. His reaction when he first discovered he could wield such power? “Oh, holy moly! Deliverance.”

As cellphone use has skyrocketed, making it hard to avoid hearing half a conversation in many public places, a small but growing band of rebels is turning to a blunt countermeasure: the cellphone jammer, a gadget that renders nearby mobile devices impotent.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/technology/04jammer.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin

[williesgirl]

1. These should be illegal. What if your attacker has "pushed" this button before coming after you?

Now not only could a home invader cut your land lines, he could also render your cell phone unable to dial 911.

What about the abuser who's spouse has been given cell phone that only works for 911 to protect themselves against someone who has a restraining order out on them? The abuser just buys one of these gadgets and she can't call 911.

I agree that folks chatting on their cells is irritating, but there has to be another way to control abuse than this.

[babylonsister]

2. According to the title, it is illegal. nt

[flashl]

3. Like the caution in this thread

Same topic but different attitudes