France to Allow Cell Phone Jamming

ZuperDee writes "According to this article, the French industry minister has approved a decision to allow cinemas, concert halls and theaters to install cell phone jammers, on the condition that emergency calls can still get through."

Re:Yes!

[Anonymous Coward]

Basically anything that reduces our addiction to instant satisfaction of our every wish is ok with me

When do you want it?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[weighn]

i'd say they would use a white-noise generator and have a member of staff monitor slashdot for emergencies at which point they turn off the white-noise.

I suppose France had to

[tod_miller]

If anything is more annoying than someone talking in a cinema - it is French people talking in a cinema :-) I guess they had to impose a law!

Hahah even though this is true, I love France, and French people.

It *is* true though!

Re:Yes!

[quetzalc0atl]

>Seriously though... who REALLY needs to be contacted IMMEDIATELY 24-7?

superheroes

Re:So dumb, when we resort to technology

[neuro.slug]

Or if they are on silent, they bloody answer them and talk in that hushed-shouting whisper that is actually about 50 decibels above normal talking.

That's some fierce punk-rock concert whispering...

-- n

Re:Emergency Calls?

[pklong]

Your on to something, but you're not quite there.

Allow the cinemas to install their own Pico Cells in the theatres and jam the outside cells. The pico cell should connect them to the cinema's own mobile operator and charge them 20$ per minute.

They'll think twice next time they get their bill, inconsideratle little twerps ;)

Re:Yes!

[caitsith01]

The comment about someone dead or dying is absolutely stupid. If someone's been hit by a car and they're not dead yet, but will be soon, I'd rather like to go and say goodbye.

Thank you, your comments are extremely stupid too.

How did people manage as recently as 1990? When people were dead or dying, however did relatives get by not knowing the *instant* their loved ones were crushed by that tractor/mauled by that pit bull/swarmed by those killer bees? What about earlier, say 1900... without phones at all, you would have had to wait a shocking couple of hours for a telegram delivery guy to find you... or in the Old West, you might have had to wait weeks and weeks to hear news of a loved one's passing.

But you can't wait 2 hours? 2 lousy hours. 120 minutes... 180 if it's an Oliver Stone film. Well, maybe you should sit at home crouched over your landline muttering "can't go out... loved ones might die... might miss the call... could all die at any second... can't miss their deaths...". Or maybe you could get out there and live your life without the need for the constant psychological umbilical cord of your mobile phone, taking the outrageous chance that if your entire family is slaughtered by cannibals while you are at the cinema the police will probably fill you in on the parts you missed when you get home.

Better yet, why not kill your family now? That way you wont miss a precious second of it, and I can enjoy The Bourne Supremacy in peace.

Re:First Post?

[BasilBrush]

And besides, people are getting far too anal about things these days. It's just a fucking movie.

If it's just a fucking movie, then don't fucking go. It's not place to decide how important an event is to the other people there. I've just visited your blog.

A) You look very young, which probably explains your selfish anti-social attitute.

B) You go on about some concert as if it was the second coming of Christ. Don't you realise it's just a fucking concert?

Re:A great idea.

[Anonymous Coward]

I can tolerate a mobile phone going off in a movie theater, but I shall bring down fiery justice on those who leave their bloody phones on during a live performance.

I know! I've been complaining to the bootleggers' union for years now, but nothing ever gets done...

Hmm...

[Pakaran2]

If you jam cell phones, won't that just lead to people shouting louder? Knowing most of the cell phone users I do, I can just picture...

(Phone goes off) "Hello? ... Oh, hi, John, they have a cell phone jammer in here. JOHN, I SAID THEY HAVE A CELL PHONE JAMMER IN HERE. CAN YOU HEAR ME BETTER NOW? ... DAMMIT JOHN, EVERYONE IN THE THEATER IS STARING AT ME. ... YEAH, I'D LOVE TO MEET YOU FOR A BEER, BUT I'M IN THIS MOVIE FOR THE NEXT HALF HOUR. Oh, never mind, they just dragged me out by my shirt collar. ... Yeah, there's much better reception out here, where do you want to go?"

Re:Emergency Calls?

[sjb2016]

When I went to see "The Matrix" the buy behind me asked if I would move down a seat so that his wife wouldn't be blocked by my head. Being the nice guy that I am, I agreed. No problem. Of course, about half way in he gets a call on his cell and doesn't just hang it up, but conducts a conversation. To show my distaste for his shenanigans, I moved back to my original seat and presumably blocked his wife's view. Was I punishing the wrong person? No, because we all know a wife make a husband do anything she wants, and had she said hang up, he would have.

Re:I REALLY WONDER

[mikael]

how everybody was able to survive 10 years ago, when NOBODY had a cell phone in the cinema or on a concert...

Emergency service workers like doctors, anaesthetists and consultants had pagers. This device would allow simple text messages to be received (if not just a telephone number), and could be set to vibrate rather than play a polyphonic tune at 120 decibels.

I think I may have seen one in a museum, but that was a long time ago...

Re:you pointed out the solution

[Anonymous Coward]

You propose a low-tech solution to a problem wich comes from a high-tech solution to a problem that could have been solved with a low-tech solution in the first place?

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Anonymous Coward]

its easy to jam cell phone signals - they should just move all buildings to North Wales - I can never get a signal on my phone ;)

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Bender Unit 22]

Bah!
I am on call 24/7, people NEED to be able to reach me and I have my phone on in the cinema, but of course I mute it to vibration only and to out side to answer it.
But since the pager network were closed down here a few years ago, the cell phone is the only way people can connect to me.

Don't be so narrow minded.

Plenty of people needs to be available.
Doctors, fire fighters, people waiting for a organ transplant, technicians at your small hosting company.
Specially those working in small towns or companies do not have the luxury of having on site staff 24/7 (that goes for all on the list above).

The problem with the cinema is that I just give the number to the cinema and have them contact me, like at a resturant.

Where R the +27 "Funny" Mods When U Need 'em?

[RobotRunAmok]

The funniest thing I have read today -- and probably for the week -- was you putting "technicians at your small hosting company" in the same sentence as "doctors, fire fighters, [and] people waiting for an organ transplant." It is, as they say in The Biz, "comedy gold."

(I have this image of weary, grim-faced grimey first-responders -- the firefighter in helmet, with his axe; the policeman, in cap, with his gun drawn; the doctor, stethescope around his neck, medical kit in hand; all emerging slo-mo through a thick curtain of smoke that blankets a rain-slick urban landscape. Background sound effects include sirens wailing, women sobbing, a toddler crying out for her mommy, the crackle of a police radio, maybe even the chum-chum of helicopter rotors overhead. Soundtrack is something suitably somber, like Enya's "Only Time," or perhaps a solo bagpipe rendition of "Amazing Grace." Suddenly, a high-pitched cry cuts through the scene and the mood: "Hey Guys!! Wait Up!!" The battle-weary first-responders turn slowly to see a technician from a small hosting company, "Buckaroo Banzai" baseball cap on head, router under his arm, racing out of an otherwise abandoned movie theatre (Marquee: "Star Wars Marathon!") to join them. The emergency-response professionals then look on in helpless horror (and a smidge of amusement that will haunt their consciences for months to come) as an Armored Personnel Carrier loaded with a troop of National Guardsmen barrels around the corner and flattens the hapless tech into the damp asphalt.)

Yeah, sure, I got better things to do then give it away on /., but you inspired me, dude, and for that I thank you.

Re:Emergency Calls? -- True Friend

[Anonymous Coward]

Did anyone else pause while reading this?

I've had fairly serious things happen, such as my friend trying to call me when his brother died because

he needed help moving the body.

Do you live in New Jersey? Oh well, you know what they say "A friend will help you move. A true friend will help you move a body."

Re:I for one really welcome this.

[pla]

I propose a low-tech solution. Warn people that they will be trown out if their mobile rings. Enforce.

I've gone to a number of live performances that do something very much like this...

I've heard a number of variations, and seen them carried out about half the time (just the threat helps remind people to act civilized and turn the damned things off)... My favorite (at a play), the entire cast just stopped in mid-sentence, all turned toward the idiot with the ringing phone, and the main actor on stage asked him to answer it, insisting over rude-boy's mumbled apologies, that he please go ahead, take his call, all the rest of us would wait politely.

I have never seen another human turn that shade of red.

Most importantly, about six seconds later (you could almost hear the cogs turning in peoples' heads), a wave of soft little clicks and low bleeps moved across the theatre as all the other potential rude-idiots-that-ignored-the-initial-warning turned off their phones. Truly beautiful.

Who needs technology when plain ol' public humiliation will work? Unfortunately, most for-pay venues don't have the balls to carry through on threats like that.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Suidae]

The '80s called, your 386 wants to be your desktop system again.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Suidae]

I'd much rather have the usher come in and whisper to you

right, because he has a magic parent locator that can tell him in what seat you are sitting, and can magicly float over the 20 people between you and the isle.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[eth1]

"I would certainly welcome a cell phone blocker in my class rooms."

I believe these have been available for some time. They're called 'F's.

Re:Emergency Calls?

[Armando_Mcgillicutty]

So let's see if I understand what you're saying. The babysitter is home with the kids, I'm at the movie with my wife on a long-due night to ourselves, but I'd like to know if there's an emergency. One of the kids gets hurt, babysitter has to call 911, and then somehow let me know. You say the babysitter should have enough sense to walk out of the theater and call me... To do that he/she would have to first get to the theater, walk in, then walk out, then make the call, which still won't get to me because everythign is jammed. Besides, if the babysitter took the time to get to the theater (assuming they have means to get there), she wouldn't have to make a call in the first place. I'm not sure I like your line of reasoning here.