"Try to wrap your mind around the concept. It's doable"
Sam, the theater doesn't own the spectrum it purports to use - its someone else's (the spectrum licensees) property. I'm sure your mind is wrapped around that concept. It is also very likely that the jamming signals will not be limited to the premises of said private property - and that's the other problem.
Theaters can control the problem directly - by refusing to allow patrons with cellphones to enter, or by asking them to leave if they use a cellphone in any way that they deem unacceptable. The rest is just plain manners.
Um, you realize that passive shielding is in fact legal? By the above ridiculous argument, it should not be.
It is also very likely that the jamming signals will not be limited to the premises of said private property - and that's the other problem.This part I agree with. And that would very definitely be the theater's responsibility not to have the jamming signal outside the confined space. So as a practical matter, it gets back to the problem of shielding the building, which is expensive, thus impractical. But that doesn't change what I consider to be the moral right of the theater to do this, if it really could limit the jamming to inside the proscribed area.
So yes, RFEngineer, I'm not surprised that you found the fly in the ointment, but it's still an ointment that I would hardily approve of, if it could be perfected.
This is the whole point. The problem is not the existence of cell phones in a movie theater but inconsiderate usage. The vast majority of people will set their cell phone on vibrate and will go into the hallway to return a call.
Why would anyone think that a person that is inconsiderate using a cell phone would be perfectly mannerly in every other area?
Odds are that the same person that talks on a cell phone during a movie is also going to talk to people around him as well and show other inconsiderate behavior.