Mobile Phone Jammers

[charlie]

What's your view on this? I have some limited experience with them. Should they be legal for the general public? Anything you want to share?

Taken from: http://static.howstuffworks.com

[TheKiwi]

Well there would always be some retard who'd get his kicks out of jamming mobile phones at inappropriate locations. People these days are very dependent upon their phones and you could just see gangs (for example) jamming local mobiles before carrying out crimes.

But I certainly wouldn't object to them being licensed to certain locations which would benefit from them (cinemas, restaurants, etc).

[chulo_allen]

illegal to operate, manufacture, import, or offer for sale, including advertising (Communications Act of 1934)[5], with fines of up to $11,000 and imprisonment of up to one year

http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/ind..._2&id=cellular

Originally Posted by TheKiwi

Well there would always be some retard who'd get his kicks out of jamming mobile phones at inappropriate locations. People these days are very dependent upon their phones and you could just see gangs (for example) jamming local mobiles before carrying out crimes.

But I certainly wouldn't object to them being licensed to certain locations which would benefit from them (cinemas, restaurants, etc).

Still illegal, what if you need to call the cops?

[charlie]

Originally Posted by TheKiwi

Well there would always be some retard who'd get his kicks out of jamming mobile phones at inappropriate locations. People these days are very dependent upon their phones and you could just see gangs (for example) jamming local mobiles before carrying out crimes.

But I certainly wouldn't object to them being licensed to certain locations which would benefit from them (cinemas, restaurants, etc).

I see, that's the question ain't it? How many people are using their mobile phones needlessly. Loving to hear their own voice talking on public transport for example. You've mentioned cinemas and restaurants. At those places i have encountered annoying people just yapping away for good measure.

[charlie]

Originally Posted by chulo_allen

http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/ind..._2&id=cellular





Still illegal, what if you need to call the cops?

How about a jammer device with very limited range?

[chulo_allen]

Originally Posted by charlie

How about a jammer device with very limited range?

As the FCC states

Blocking & Jamming


The operation of transmitters designed to jam or block wireless communications is a violation of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended ("Act"). See 47 U.S.C. Sections 301, 302a, 333. The Act prohibits any person from willfully or maliciously interfering with the radio communications of any station licensed or authorized under the Act or operated by the U.S. government. 47 U.S.C. Section 333. The manufacture, importation, sale or offer for sale, including advertising, of devices designed to block or jam wireless transmissions is prohibited. 47 U.S.C. Section 302a(b). Parties in violation of these provisions may be subject to the penalties set out in 47 U.S.C. Sections 501-510. Fines for a first offense can range as high as $11,000 for each violation or imprisonment for up to one year, and the device used may also be seized and forfeited to the U.S. government.

ANY sort of jamming, short range or not, if it is intentional , it is illegal

[StukaJr]

Most banks and government buildings jam signals in sensitive areas. As for personal use... Your personal space ends when it enters another person's personal space - the one benefit of jamming a cell signal has many negative and unintentional consequences that one cannot even fathom. Since the jammer is active - it wouldn't be hard to pinpoint and if someone built one out of radioshack parts, I wouldn't be surprised if he or she received a civil lawsuit from someone missing a call or manslaughter charge from a surgeon for not receiving an urgent page while at lunch...

Spike strips are legal to the public - doesn't mean that it's legal to lay one across a road, just because of the intended use. Sure, cellphone jammers should be legal to build and to own - but doesn't mean that it should be operated beyond personal property and with full disclosure.

[chulo_allen]

Originally Posted by StukaJr

Most banks and government buildings jam signals in sensitive areas. As for personal use... Your personal space ends when it enters another person's personal space - the one benefit of jamming a cell signal has many negative and unintentional consequences that one cannot even fathom. Since the jammer is active - it wouldn't be hard to pinpoint and if someone built one out of radioshack parts, I wouldn't be surprised if he or she received a civil lawsuit from someone missing a call or manslaughter charge from a surgeon for not receiving an urgent page while at lunch...

Spike strips are legal to the public - doesn't mean that it's legal to lay one across a road, just because of the intended use. Sure, cellphone jammers should be legal to build and to own - but doesn't mean that it should be operated beyond personal property and with full disclosure.

Yes, but notice that the FCC says:

The manufacture, importation, sale or offer for sale, including advertising, of devices designed to block or jam wireless transmissions is prohibited. 47 U.S.C. Section 302a(b).

While sometimes its legal to own something its illegal to sell them, in this case, even making one is illegal. So if you didnt make your own, import it, you must have bought it. So you are in the free, but the person that sold it you is in trouble.
But if you make your own for your own use, you have "manufactured" one and so violated that USC

[CMN]

I'd love one. Bring some peace and quiet to my house.

[charlie]

Originally Posted by chulo_allen

As the FCC states


ANY sort of jamming, short range or not, if it is intentional , it is illegal

Yes, but Shut the Cell Up writes:

"I use it on the bus all the time. I always zap the idiots who discuss what they want from the Chinese restaurant so that everyone can hear them. Why is that necessary?" He added, "I can't throw the phones out the window, so this is the next best thing."

Online mobile cell phone jammers seller Victor McCormack said he's made "hundreds of sales" to New Yorkers. "The interest has gone insane in the last few years. I get all sorts of people buying them, from priests to police officers."

Cell Phone Blockers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from portable handhelds that look like cellphones to larger, fixed models as big as suitcases. Their sole goal is to zip inconsiderate lips. The smaller gadgets emit radio frequencies that block signals anywhere from a 50- to 200-foot radius. They range in price from $250 to $2,000.

Wouldn't a change in the law be better? Obviously people/businesses are looking for these kind of jammer devices which can be turned on and off.

[charlie]

Originally Posted by StukaJr

Most banks and government buildings jam signals in sensitive areas. As for personal use... Your personal space ends when it enters another person's personal space - the one benefit of jamming a cell signal has many negative and unintentional consequences that one cannot even fathom. Since the jammer is active - it wouldn't be hard to pinpoint and if someone built one out of radioshack parts, I wouldn't be surprised if he or she received a civil lawsuit from someone missing a call or manslaughter charge from a surgeon for not receiving an urgent page while at lunch...

Spike strips are legal to the public - doesn't mean that it's legal to lay one across a road, just because of the intended use. Sure, cellphone jammers should be legal to build and to own - but doesn't mean that it should be operated beyond personal property and with full disclosure.

Some interesting comments, thanks.

[chulo_allen]

Jamming someone because they are annoying is not worth the cost of life should someone need it at an emergency. Especially since people jamming each other would be done in secret.

People are out looking for crack, but that does not mean the law needs to change to meet their habits.

[charlie]

I see, point taken. Jamming devices in prisons would be useful i reckon.

Matthew Lasar writes:

In the debate over cell phone jamming in prisons, the skeptics have caution and reason on their side, but the advocates bring impressive horror stories. Take Texas State Senator John Whitmire, who testified at Wednesdays' Senate Commerce and Science hearing on a bill to let prisons use jamming technology to block mobile phone use within their walls. At the event, he described how he received a phone call last year from Texas death row inmate Richard Tabler.

[charlie]

Originally Posted by CMN

I'd love one. Bring some peace and quiet to my house.

That many girls?

[StickyPop]

I could definitely see some determined bank robbers or whatnot using a portable one to their advantage. Much like the bank robbers in the shootout in North Hollywood (who also used police scanners), if someone would invest that much money in their firearms, ammunition, and body armor, why wouldn't they buy something like this that could easily change their odds in their favor?