Are We All Becoming Criminals?
Jammers are illegal in England, the United States and most of the European Union. But the most basic jammer costs as little as fifty dollars in Hong Kong. By sending out a blizzard of radio waves, this cigarette packet-sized gadget will knock out a mobile phone signal within a radius of five to ten yards. A more expensive version can take out a whole stadium.
The fact that it’s illegal does not seem to be deterring an increasing number of jammers. Demand in the United States is sharply on the increase. Despite the threat of an $11,000 fine for anyone caught using the device, exporters in Asia are receiving hundreds of orders every week.
From the buzz in the technology chat rooms of the world, it is clear that the jamming club is growing. Names of companies that import the jammers as “flashlights” are passed from one irate blogger to the next. Happy owners include hairdressers, bus drivers, public speakers, and cafe managers.
Ofcom (the UK’s communications regulator) has prosecuted a few people for selling jammers, but has never caught and prosecuted a single person for using them. As white-collar crime goes, this is pretty hard to detect – a surreptitious black box in a suit pocket on the 8.24 from a sleepy commuter town. How are they going to know?
August 12th, 2008 at 4:58 am
The Savoy cinema in Dublin installed one in 2003 but after a local paper published an article about it, the phone police turned up and insisted, on threat of a fine and imprisonment, that it be removed. In my opinion this was an injustice to we patrons of the cinema. This is not just about phones; it’s about civil rights, our human rights, our freedom.
August 18th, 2008 at 5:01 am
Jammers are illegal for good reason: they cause deliberate interference to the radio spectrum, which can cause a nuisance to other users and at worst are dangerous – potentially jamming the frequencies used by the emergency services or to contact the emergency services.
August 23rd, 2008 at 5:12 am
Cell-phone jammers are perfectly legal here in Israel. Also in Japan and India. Probably other countries too. It’s never been a safety problem.
The real reason the US and Europe ban them is that these governments collect colossal amounts of money by leasing the airwaves to mobile carriers, who each pay huge fees for their frequencies and bandwidth.
To protect the price of its “product”, the government must enforce the telecommunications companies’ business interests. It is only this enforcement that justifies their massive fees; otherwise they are selling nothing but worthless permission.
August 27th, 2008 at 6:13 am
I ship about 400 jammers a month into the United States, up from 300 a year ago. At holiday gift times,we have exceeded 2,000 orders. Please visit us at PhoneJammer.com.
September 2nd, 2008 at 6:20 am
I live in Mumbai, India. Jammers are legal here. I export about 20 a month to the United States, twice as many as a year ago. Clients include owners of cafes and hair salons and bus drivers.
September 7th, 2008 at 7:02 am
Some countries are allowing businesses and government organizations to install jammers in areas where cell-phone use is seen as a public nuisance.
In December 2004, France legalized cell-phone jammers in movie theaters, concert halls and other places with performances. France is finalizing technology that will let calls to emergency services go through.
India has installed jammers in parliament and some prisons.
Universities in Italy have adopted the technology to prevent cheating. Students were taking photos of tests with their camera phones and sending them to classmates.
But in the U.S., the main cellular phone industry trade association has asked the F.C.C. to maintain the illegality of jamming and to continue to pursue violators without exception. This was in response to requests by companies for permission to use jammers in specific situations, such as in jails. The F.C.C. sided with the industry giants. Not long before, Verizon convinced the F.C.C. to block two companies from getting permission in prison applications.
Eventually, technology may advance to the point of producing jammers that are smart enough to distinguish emergency calls and not to breach the property rights of network operators, while enabling those who have good reason to jam to do so, to somehow jam cell phones in a manner permitted by the law.
January 19th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Technological innovations usually have a black side associated with ‘em. Jammers are supposed to be used by law enforcement agencies. However today cell phone jammers are misused by kids, people in movie halls and at times by terrorists.
January 26th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Flip side, the positive aspect is to use it for constructive purposes like blocking illegal communications and terrorist plots
November 20th, 2009 at 7:51 am
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