A Philadelphia man drew some attention after he used a device acting as a kill switch on a public bus, nuking cell phone service for every rider. The best part about this story is the man’s explanation behind his usage of the cell phone jammer. He simply told the local news, that he didn’t want to listen to other people’s phone conversations, and that he turns on the illegal device when other passengers talk too loud and bother him. Can’t make this stuff up, people.
He went on, saying: “I guess I’m taking the law into my own hands, and quite frankly, I’m proud of it.” This act to enforce peacefulness didn’t fly so well with Michelle Ellison, Chief of the Federal Communication Commission Enforcement Bureau.
“While some people who use jammers may think they are only silencing loud conversations or disabling unwanted GPS tracking, they could also be preventing a scared teenager from calling 911, an elderly person from placing an urgent call to a doctor, or a rescue team from homing in on the location of a severely injured person,” Ellison said. “The price for one person’s moment of peace or privacy, could very well be the safety and well-being of others.”
Bottom line, Jammers are illegal and the FCC is trying to crack down on oversees companies selling them online to people in the states. Jammers piss off the government because they block licensing frequencies that are not owned by the jammer and it’s illegal to interfere with any licensing frequency. This in the hands of any Joe Schmo is not a good idea.
That said, I don’t think Jammers should be illegal to companies who have a legitimate need for them. For example, jammers can be used in any theater to prevent morons from disturbing a show even though they were told to turn their phones off earlier (as I digress). I think theaters is a good case for it, but schools not so much. In theory, it would make sense to stop students from using their cell phones during school hours, but in light of all these recent school shootings — it might not be a good idea.
Do you think jammers should be legal?
[NBC10 in Philadelphia; via Mashable]