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Comment by sorbus | Hacker News Reader

If everyone agrees that cell phones in prisons are a bad thing, when why not use jammers to stop the signal? A small cell phone jammer can be gotten for ~$130, and it probably wouldn't take many to blanket a prison. This would lead to issues with communication between the inside and outside, of course, but a mixture of land lines and VOIP would make it pretty easy for guards to continue as normal.

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From the article, at least some people think it won't work: “It’s illegal, plain and simple,” said Chris Guttman-McCabe, vice president of regulatory affairs for CTIA-The Wireless Association. He cited the Communications Act of 1934, which prohibits the blocking of radio signals — or, in this case, cellphone signals — from authorized users.

The problem with this argument is that prisons are a different place legally than the rest of the world. In addition to the the limited rights of the prisoners, they also impose limited rights on the people working there. If the prison authorities and whatever legislature has authority over the prison decide that there are no "authorized users" within a prison then there is no violation of the act.

Wouldn't that also block the employee's cell phones?

My reading of the article was that it's illegal for anyone (including guards etc) to possess cellphones within the prison.

That doesn't address the problem if contraband is still coming in.

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