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Theater owners want cell phones blocked
UPI ^ | Dec. 17, 2005 | UPI

Posted on 12/18/2005 7:27:25 AM PST by 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.

(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: annoyingpeople; cellphones; emilypost; etiquette; grace; gracious; hollywood; manners; missmanners; pests; theater; theaters
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To: ScreamingFist

"In the $12 ticket price?"

LOL....didn't you have to wait in line?.....why couldn't you get the best seat in the theater?......did you have to wait for in line to buy popcorn?....and they NEVER have enough urinals....the fat guy sitting next to you with orangutan arms?......too hot, too cold.....what was that smell?

These are all inconveniences that are not avoided by a $12 ticket!


281 posted on 12/18/2005 1:20:39 PM PST by RFEngineer
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To: samtheman

Man, you're already a slave... you just don't know it.

Fight the power...


282 posted on 12/18/2005 1:21:42 PM PST by streetpreacher (If at the end of the day, 100% of both sides are not angry with me, I've failed.)
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To: JeffAtlanta

OK, so what if you think the best era was one that you didn't grow up in?


283 posted on 12/18/2005 1:22:42 PM PST by streetpreacher (If at the end of the day, 100% of both sides are not angry with me, I've failed.)
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Comment #284 Removed by Moderator

To: ScreamingFist
I guess you're more thinned skin that I. I believe in Live and Let Live. Yes, the cell phone going off in the theater could be a wrong number to an insensitive jerk or an emergency call.

Do you want to regulate body oder, too? I've sat next to many people on many occasions who smelt as if they hadn't bathed in a week.

Would you regulate that as well?

285 posted on 12/18/2005 1:25:06 PM PST by MrsEmmaPeel
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To: gate2wire

I went on opening day and had a great time. There were no disruptions at all.


286 posted on 12/18/2005 1:25:27 PM PST by tai-pan (Mitch Rapp is my hero)
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To: RFEngineer
These are all inconveniences that are not avoided by a $12 ticket!

It's just common sense that common theaters are not setup to be a church like experience. Going to the movies is a social experience that involves going out in public and experiences all of the things that come with being out in public.

To be sure, people who attend movies should try their best to be courteous to their fellow moviegoers, but a theater patron just has to realize that it's not always going to be a pristine experience.

For a person to expect a totally sterile experience is just not realistic - at least not with mainstream, modern theaters.

287 posted on 12/18/2005 1:26:06 PM PST by JeffAtlanta
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To: Keebler Elf
I bet they would change their tune if someone died because they couldn't reach their physician.

There response, in this thread, has been that doctors should never attend movies if on call.

288 posted on 12/18/2005 1:27:36 PM PST by JeffAtlanta
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To: MineralMan
So what if he was calling you from the pottie area, it's called 'multi tasking' and it's all the rage. ;9)
289 posted on 12/18/2005 1:27:50 PM PST by Ditter
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To: RFEngineer
These are all inconveniences that are not avoided by a $12 ticket!

Understood. I haven't been to a theater since The Phantom Menace came out. I had a bad experience with some broad and her talkative 3 year old behind me that believed movie theaters are baby sitters......let's just say I wait for the DVD's now. My posts on this thread are directed more towards ways to allow cell phone users and movie patrons a symbiotic relationship.....frankly I couldn't give a crap one way or the other....

290 posted on 12/18/2005 1:29:07 PM PST by ScreamingFist ( The RKBA doesn't apply if I have a bigger gun than your bodyguard. NRA)
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Comment #291 Removed by Moderator

To: MrsEmmaPeel

I think this thread is directed at if a theater owner has the right to control the use of cell phone use in his own establishment. If he feels that cell phone use is bothersome and an inconvience to his patrons I feel he should have the right to not allow the use of them in his business. If there is someone that is so indispensible that they can not do without their cell phone let them go to another theater. There is nothing forcing a person into this theater.
I may like to have a beer while I watch a movie, should the owner be obligated to allow me my beer, or should he be allowed to make the rules he seems fit?


292 posted on 12/18/2005 1:31:38 PM PST by John D
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To: RFEngineer
Easy to say, not easy to do. Ok, so let's say they Block Nextel, - which happens to be interleaved in frequency with Public Safety radios (you'll be blocking fire dept, police, ambulance too) or Cellular A band which is adjacent......

You don't say! So police cars parked inside the theater will be unable to radio their dispatchers? That is a problem.

However, if they hired bouncers to kick out unruly customers, including those using cellphones - which is totally within their right as a place of business, I submit the unintended consequences would be mostly GOOD.

Namely, an extremely high probability that the persons so evicted will win a lawsuit against the owner? Are you a litigator, by chance?

293 posted on 12/18/2005 1:33:11 PM PST by Shalom Israel (Well, I got better...)
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To: MrsEmmaPeel
I guess you're more thinned skin that I. I believe in Live and Let Live.

Good for you. Go pay $12 to sit in a BO filled theater with cell phones and screeching kids all you want.....try a theater in Egypt if you really want a experience.....I'm sure you'll be the first to complain about the smoke.

294 posted on 12/18/2005 1:34:21 PM PST by ScreamingFist ( The RKBA doesn't apply if I have a bigger gun than your bodyguard. NRA)
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To: ScreamingFist
The Phantom Menace came out. I had a bad experience with some broad and her talkative 3 year old behind me that believed movie theaters are baby sitters

See, that has been my point - infants are the primary problems in movies, not cell phone users.

Cell phones in movies are almost always either turned off or set to vibrate. When a call does come in, it is either ignored or the person leaves the theater to return the call.

295 posted on 12/18/2005 1:35:02 PM PST by JeffAtlanta
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To: Erasmus
Expensive, to say the very least!

I should comment, though, that the market will provide. A japanese fellow has already invented wood panelling with embedded nickel-cadmium filings that blocks cell signals. His ultimate goal is to market the panelling through Home Depot.

And, since nobody's mentioned it yet, jamming an area the size of a theater without also shielding it will block significant areas outside the theater as well.

Not necessarily. The secret is multiple jamming bubbles of controlled radius. A similar trick was used when I was at Symbol to provide WiFi in an office that couldn't be sniffed outside the building.

296 posted on 12/18/2005 1:35:47 PM PST by Shalom Israel (Well, I got better...)
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To: JeffAtlanta

"It's just common sense...."

Bingo! And that's the solution to this issue. That some people must endure others who do not have common sense is just one of those things that goes with going out in public. The same goes with inappropriate cellphone use, farting, too much garlic in foods in combination with the general public.

The folks who complain about cellphones on this thread would be much better off if they focused their energy on, say, coming up with new and creative Homeowners Association Rules dealing with paint color, shrubbery, and lawn maintenance.


297 posted on 12/18/2005 1:36:06 PM PST by RFEngineer
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To: Shalom Israel
You don't say! So police cars parked inside the theater will be unable to radio their dispatchers? That is a problem.

An officer or paramedic inside the theater would be cut off - that is a problem.

Do you think that police officers and paramedics remain in their cars when responding to an emergency inside a theater?

298 posted on 12/18/2005 1:37:14 PM PST by JeffAtlanta
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To: Kjobs

Cell phone blockers are in use in lots of countries.

I totally support the right of a theatre owner to install such devices and let the movie goers know that the blocker is installed and if the movie goer doesn't like it, they can go somewhere else.

I find cell phones to be a nuisance and they have coarsened society.


299 posted on 12/18/2005 1:39:36 PM PST by Central Scrutiniser (Screw Christmas, Happy Festivus!!!)
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To: ScreamingFist
I'm sure you'll be the first to complain about the smoke.

You're confusing me with some one else. I'm Live And let Live. If I wanted a private viewing of the movie, I'd buy the DvD. If I want to watch it in public I make allowances and don't complain.

300 posted on 12/18/2005 1:40:32 PM PST by MrsEmmaPeel
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