USA pulls an Egypt
2011-08-13 13:38:02.834205+00 by
meuon
6 comments
BART turns off Cell Phone Service to prevent POSSIBLE protest.
While part of me agrees with:
At the same time, BART may have been within its rights, said Professor Jordan, a criminologist at Western Connecticut State University, in Danbury. “They didn’t try to shut down the protest," she told CNN. "They simply turned off the cell service so it couldn’t become viral. It really is just a cost/benefit analysis of where your freedom of speech begins to threaten the public safety.
Given our current society reliance on cell phones for "public safety", this seems very stupid. What about the other people that might have called 911, or really needed to, if there was an event.
The other part of me finds the idea that they (we?!?) "pulled an Egypt" about as scary as possible. That, in the USA, we have resorted to such tactics makes me a combination of angry and sad.
[ related topics:
Interactive Drama Wireless Privacy Law Law Enforcement Civil Liberties Trains Education Public Transportation Government hubris
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comments in descending chronological order (reverse):
#Comment Re: made: 2011-08-18 19:27:36.213616+00 by:
Dan Lyke
Most amusing quote of the day, from this article about someone using basic .ASP exploits
to grab personal data off of the BART police union's web server:
"These people are criminals, and we're going to forward this
information to the FBI," Sekhon said. "These people need to
be brought to justice. They can't be terrorizing people."
Sad that you could write that exact same quote about either side, hey?
#Comment Re: made: 2011-08-16 04:59:38.558243+00 by:
Dan Lyke
If they're shooting video, then, yeah, it's gonna be really embarrassing when that ends up on YouTube...
#Comment Re: made: 2011-08-15 23:15:57.202342+00 by:
spc476
But if the passengers are shooting, don't you want them to stop?
#Comment Re: made: 2011-08-15 14:06:08.892076+00 by:
Dan Lyke
Yeah, it's a wonder of modern technology that we can use our phones in mass transit tunnels. It's a shame that BART decided to hobble that technology rather than, you know, maybe changing their policing policies so that their security stops shooting passengers.
#Comment Re: made: 2011-08-14 13:54:46.124512+00 by:
Dwayne
I'm on the fence too. BART installs phone signal repeaters of some sort in the underground stations as a
courtesy to its customers in a location where their phones would normally not work. While I certainly enjoy
the convenience this provides, I've never felt entitled to a working wireless phone while 50 or more feet
underground.
#Comment Re: made: 2011-08-14 09:49:40.598388+00 by:
DaveP
Yeah, they were probably within their rights. But that don't make it Right.