Theater owners want cell phones blocked

UPI ^ | Dec. 17, 2005 | UPI

[Kjobs]

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The National Association of Theater Owners wants the Federal Communications Commission to allow the blocking of cell phone signals in theaters.

John Fithian, the president of the trade organization, told the Los Angeles Times theater owners "have to block rude behavior" as the industry tries to come up with ways to bring people back to the cinemas.

Fithian said his group would petition the FCC for permission to block cell phone signals within movie theaters.

Some theaters already have no cell phone policies and ask moviegoers to check their phones at the door, Fithian said.

The Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association -- a Washington-based cell phone lobby that is also known as CTIA-the Wireless Association -- said it would fight any move to block cell phone signals.

[Shalom Israel]

You don't have air rights, which is why you can't block airplanes flying over your property as well.

The electromagnetic spactrum is not the same thing as the airspace above one's home. Prior to the FCC, spectrum was allocated prefectly well according to homesteading law--which is what provoked government regulation of the airwaves: sheer terror that it was working out just fine without government intervention.

[CindyDawg]

That's interesting. My husband and I built our house and we built it to last. Sometimes our cell phones can't find service and we have to go outside to use them. The same thing happens with portable phones. I can walk to certain areas of the house and get better reception. Sprint doesn't know why. I wonder if it was something we did while building.

[Shalom Israel]

Right. "His" property. Forgot. That's a different set of rules. Businesses aren't subject to reasonable expectations.

Yup, you've never heard of private property before. You can argue against an unusual measure that wasn't stipulated up front, just as the other party can bind you to "usual" terms that aren't necessarily specified in the contract. However, the terms of a contract can be anything, given that all parties consent freely. Many such cases are illegal, because our government doesn't respect private property. Laws against short-range jamming on private property are an example of such.

[CindyDawg]

What I find amazing is that you guys get paid to be on call. It's considered part of our job description that is worked into our salary. If I was on the clock, I might not hate carrying the annoyance box so much:')

[Shalom Israel]

Perhaps the solution is to offer to pay your fellow theater goers to be on call with you.

Yup. Or to convince the owner to designate one of his theaters "phone conversation optional". The market will decide whether that's a good idea, of course.

[John D]

You may well act responsibly, but business owners should be allowed to make the rules they feel are better for their business. Would you feel a theater owner should be forced to allow patrons bring their own snacks in a theater if they want, or should a restaurant owner be forced to do away with their dress code just because a patron feels he is dressed well enough, even if his dress is not up to the restaurant's dress code?

[Yaelle]

I want babies blocked. I think there should be no one under two in a movie theater EVER, for any reason. And no one under 5 or 7 in an R rated movie, EVER. Some of us pay babysitters for our big night out, only to arrive at the movie and have to listen to someone else's baby crying.

In Europe babies are not allowed in theaters for insurance purposes, which makes total sense. That theater is going to have to shell out big if a tiny tot falls off a movie chair in the dark and injures her head. It's not a safe place for babies.

[FreeAtlanta]

Well, it should not be illegal for them to block signals. I think any private company should be able to block signals within their buildings or complex.

[MineralMan]

Theater rooms are easy. No windows. I suppose they use drywall for the interiors. So, you staple up the mesh to the studs, overlapping it to form connections, then up goes the drywall. No brainer.

I expect this is already going on as they build new multiplex theaters. The cell phone addicts just won't have any signal, so they can leave the things on all they want.

[SaveTheChief]

Wow. Remind me to never throw any weak rhetoric at you, will ya?

I need to be able to watch my Blackberry as I am enjoying a movie while driving through the tunnel in my Scion and can't possibly be distracted. :-P

[John Robertson]

I'll take that as the mixed compliment it was.

Merry Christmas, and keep the Scion clean (shouldn't take long, they're only about three feet in length).

[MineralMan]

"That's interesting. My husband and I built our house and we built it to last. Sometimes our cell phones can't find service and we have to go outside to use them. The same thing happens with portable phones. I can walk to certain areas of the house and get better reception. Sprint doesn't know why. I wonder if it was something we did while building."

---

You may have plaster walls in your home. Today, metal lath is used in those walls. It will act effectively as a faraday cage, blocking cell phone signals.

My parents have that problem in their home and cannot use cordless phones even between rooms. I upgraded them to newer cordless phones and they work OK, now, in the house, but you can't use them outdoors.

If you have plastered walls, rather than gypsum board (drywall) then that's the problem.

[Samwise]

They can have my cell phone when they pry it from my cold, dead hand.

[RGSpincich]

Exception: date nights ;-)

I insist that date nights are spent out of the house, too. Of course, my older teens are the only having date nights these days. :~)

[SaveTheChief]

Merry Christmas, and keep the Scion clean (shouldn't take long, they're only about three feet in length).

Merry Christmas to you too. I have a confession -- I really don't own a Scion, but at least they're larger than a Mini, or a Yugo.

[CindyDawg]

Huh. Well be put up what he called "sheet rock" We Kept having thefts so we put plywood all around and then covered it with felt and then the bricks, so there are 4 layers. We over did it on the hurricane ties and I was thinking maybe it was all the metal.

[ScreamingFist]

What type of insulation did you use?

[CindyDawg]

Oh, I forgot about that stuff. It was that fiberglass material that you roll between the 2x4's. We had the attic blown.

[tarheelswamprat]

We need more drive in movies. Talk about multi-tasking potential:')

Ah, those halcyon days of complete, versatile entertainment!

You could do it all at the drive-in: dine out, watch a movie, enjoy the outdoors, start a family...

[albee]

"Cell phones are the least of the theatre problems. There's the Talking Idiots--those who come to the movies just to talk all the way through it. The only way to stop that would be having those attendants with the flashlights, and that's not gonna happen."

That is so true!

People have become so programmed to watching TV in their living rooms and discussing what is on the tube that they have now transferred that behavior to the public theatre where they now discuss what is going on in the movie with their friends to the annoyance of other PAYING customers.