Patrick, please strip or mung my E-mail address from Telecom Digest
for spam purposes. A courtesy E-mail copy of this reply was also sent
to the original poster.
On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 23:22:42 -0500, Kathleen Carmody
<councilmemberNOSPAMcarmody@ci.brooklyn-center.mn.us.INVALID> wrote:
> (No lectures or legal opinions needed nor desired, please).
> Anyone know where to purchase a cellular phone jammer, preferable
> stateside. There are vendors off shore, but none here in CONUS
> that I know of. Please post here any vendors that sell cellular
> jammers. (Extra points for relating your experience with using one.)
How Rude! Do you think that I would actually give you a lecture or
legal opinion simply based on your innocent sounding question? ...
Hell Yes, I Would - and if needed, I'll do it again, whether you ask
or not. It would be far worse if nobody had the courage to speak up.
I refer you first to the FCC Regulations on the subject, quoted and
referenced at the bottom of the reply. There is a VERY GOOD REASON
why nobody sells or imports jamming devices like that into the United
States, because they are very illegal.
I would strongly suggest you drop all thoughts as to buying or
installing them. It would be a fun device to keep people from making
or receiving cell calls and interrupting your City Council meetings.
But let's say someone has a heart attack while alone in a stall in the
public restroom right outside the Council Chambers, and they die while
trying to call 911 for help from their jammed cellphone. The minute
someone figures it out (and with CSI and NCIS giving people pointers
on where to look, someone will check the phone and see the failed
calls in the Outgoing Calls log) I guarantee you that all holy hell is
going to break loose.
Or there is a disturbance in the Council Chambers, and a local
policeman is delayed in making his radio call for backup and
assistance. Or a commercial airplane making an instrument approach
into the local airport in bad weather or heavy fog is 1/4 mile from
the runway, and suddenly sees his whole instrument landing beacon
system go blank ...
The type jammers used for this service are not very selective, they
will wipe out all communications over a broad spectrum of radio
frequencies and services including commercial, industrial, public
safety, and aeronautic services, not just the narrow segments serving
cellular telephone communications.
And if you are worried about bugging or malicious transmissions, you
are just going to have to hire an expert to actively sweep for them.
They can be anywhere in the electromagnetic spectrum, from DC to
light, and a cellular jammer will probably miss the intended target.
--<< Bruce >>--
http://wireless.fcc.gov/services/cellular/operations/blockingjamming.html
> Operations
> 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.
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.
Bruce L. Bergman (blbergman@withheld_on_request)