Comments on: Jam cell phones in cinemas

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 10:43:38 +0000

They will also be knocking out public safety comms that operate on 800MHZ like police, fire, medical etc all the more reason to avoid the filthy experience at theaters.

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 04:51:03 +0000

Yeep the technology is there.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060301-015410-7150r

Grab the whole URL

If that doesn’t work A Glock will usually stop it.
You can go home and call all your friends:

“Man you won’t believe what happened while I was watching this chick flick with my girlfriend at the theater and this dude’s cell phone rings. He actually answered it and some chick tells him to cut it off and hang up. He flipped her off and the chick pulls out a Glock 19 ( I think, could have been a 23) and wastes him. 15 shots, 1 in his package, 1 in his head and the rest in center mass. She then sat back down and continued to watch the movie, meanwhile everyone else applauded.”

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 03:24:46 +0000

What theatre owner wants to spend years and hundreds of thousands of dollars arguing in court that the 60 second delay in emergency response caused by cell phone blocking didn’t contribute in some small part to someone’s death from a heart attack (or whatever)? Lawyers will take advantage of any opening at all.

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 02:39:36 +0000

I heard some talk about this awhile ago. The movie industry’s reasoning was apparently different at that point. They did not want people exiting movies to call their friends and warn them to not go to the sucky movie they just saw on opening weekend. Apparently the movie mofos were not concerned about also blocking calls made by patrons urging friends to go see the great movie they just saw. Little danger of that happening?

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 00:48:00 +0000

It would be too expensive to retro-fit existing cinemas with blocking materials, but in new buildings cell frequencies could be blocked instead of jammed.

Because there’s no transmission involved, it does not require any sort of regulatory approval. It requires special materials in the walls to prevent certain radio frequencies getting thru. This could be a big selling point. I would certainly prefer to go to a movie in a cinema where cell phones wouldn’t work.

Of course, there are still all the ads, excess trailers, gooey floors, etc.

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 23:55:47 +0000

how did people call 911 in cinema’s before mobile phones? honestly how often does the need rise and how hard would it be to install a phone in the back of the theatre if it was a necesity?

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 21:27:08 +0000

How far beyond the theater’s walls would this reach? If you’re just outside the theater would your call be blocked?

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 20:23:33 +0000

Funny (related) story:

A couple of years ago a friend of mine was working late at night in the office, when they heard someone smash a window in a break-in downstairs. They tried to dial 911, only to find that the call wouldn’t go through. By the time the police got there, the thieves and thousands of dollars worth of equipment were gone. It turned out that the office manager had programmed the PBX to block all calls to numbers beginning with 9 because of a few calls to 900 pay numbers.