Posted on 04/30/2014 6:57:33 AM PDT by markomalley
Washington, D.C. – A Florida man who allegedly jammed consumer cell phone service from his car for nearly two years and interfered with first-responder communications faces a possible $48,000 fine by the Federal Communications Commission.
Jason R. Humphreys of Seffner, Florida, apparently interfered with these services while commuting along a section of Interstate 4 in Florida. In taking this enforcement action, the Commission noted that Mr. Humphreys’ jammer operation “could and may have had disastrous consequences by precluding the use of cell phones to reach life-saving 9-1-1 services provided by police, ambulance, and fire departments.”
FCC Enforcement Bureau agents identified Mr. Humphreys as the source of the interference by using sophisticated interference detection techniques. They then worked closely with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, which stopped Mr. Humphreys’ vehicle while he was apparently operating the jammer and seized the illegal jamming device. According to deputies from the Sheriff’s Office, communications with police dispatch were interrupted as they approached Mr. Humphreys’ vehicle.
Signal jamming devices or “jammers” are radio frequency transmitters that intentionally block, jam, or interfere with authorized communications, such as cellphone calls, GPS systems, Wi-Fi networks, and first-responder communications. It is a violation of federal law to market, sell, import, or use a signal jammer in the United States and its territories, except in very limited circumstances involving federal law enforcement. While these devices have been marketed and sold with increasing frequency over the Internet, their use by U.S. consumers is illegal under any circumstances. Unlawful use of signal jammers could result not only in substantial monetary fines, but also imprisonment.
Additional information about jammers and jammer enforcement is available at www.fcc.gov/jammers or by e-mailing jammerinfo@fcc.gov. To report the sale or use of an illegal jammer or to voluntarily relinquish a jammer, call the FCC Enforcement Bureau’s Jammer Tip Line at 1-855-55-NOJAM (or 1- 855-556-6526). Media inquiries should be directed to Neil Grace at (202) 418-0506 or neil.grace@fcc.gov.
The FCC enforcement action against Mr. Humphreys is available at: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-14-55A1.pdf The FCC’s Consumer alert on the jamming prohibition is available in English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese.
I don’t think there’s any reason to think that. Far more likely that he’s had it with nearly being sidewswiped by texters every half mile or so.
It is a violation of federal law to market, sell, import, or use a signal jammer in the United States and its territories, except in very limited circumstances involving federal law enforcement.It seems that nothing is more common than seeing the words "violation of federal law" these days.
“Could have had”...evidently they can’t prove he actually prevented anyone from reaching 911. Some may remember life before everyone had a phone in their pocket.
what about theaters that jam signals during shows?
what about restaurants that don’t want laptop campers?
Seems like he just did not want his location tracked.
I still have one - packed away somewhere. They’re not particularly valuable now that the po-po are using laser detectors.
I will say that it was a lot of fun to play with ;’)
If they're actively jamming the signal, they're violating the law. If it's passive due to construction/design, no such issue.
Yes, any interference would have been fleeting, due to his mobile nature.
That violates federal law. Name one theater that is confirmed to do this. I'd think people would catch on right quick and drop a dime on any theater owner who did this.
Just put foil between the hub and the wheel. Instant radar scrambler!/S
That was a scam back in the 80’s. Some people tried it!
Now I’m sure there is an Electrical Engineer out there that knows how to create a short range scrambling device that disrupts cell phone signal.
I would love to have one of those pocket cell phone signal scramblers. I could go out to dinner with my family and the kids would not be distracted by their phones.
I know, just a wish of something that will never be.....
Yup. . .but truth be told, it would be a God-send to have one of those in a movie theater, restaurant, on a the metro, etc. . wherever groups are packed together and some nimrod self-centered twit-for-brains talks LOUDLY on the darned thing, making sure everyone hears all the ‘oh-no-he-did-nt’s. . .and expects everyone to just put up with it.
Wow, the guy sounds like a low-level sociopath.
Detectors are illegal in Virginia and there’s a large sign at main highway entry points stating that fact.
I knew a guy that was a radar guru with a local defense contractor.
He said the early police radars were not filtered to prevent a huge return signal burning them up.
He said it was amusing to watch the police officer as he passed banging the radar gun with his hand wondering why it quit. Or why it was smoking.
He said he could tell when the unit triggered because the headlights dimmed.
Yeah...CT too. But here in MA they are not. I think the 'legal' states outnumber the 'illegal' ones.
Your Escort is still effective? No offense intended, do you travel in an area where the cops use old equipment? Just curious . . . I have an Escort sitting in a box in my garage. It’s been there for years.
Fresh out of school I worked for a wholesale electronics firm that sold (among other things) CB radios and accessories and radar detectors. The jammer I bought was “advertised” (word of mouth) as a radar detector tester. It was supposed to be something that you could use as a sales and technical tool to verify that a detector was capable of triggering an alarm upon reception of the radar wave transmission.
The funny thing was that it came with a cigarette lighter plug for power and had sunvisor clips on it. That made it perfect to set side by side with my own detector in my van.
I would be tooling down the highway at 75 (I can’t drive 55 ;’) and a Porsche would come up on me like I was standing still. Hit the jammer for a second or two and the other car would immediately hit the brakes and wildly look for the cop. Sometimes I would use it on cops in the speed traps. I’d find a vantage point where I could watch him but he wouldn’t know I was there. When he would start flashing cars (I would know because my own detector would go off) I’d hit the detector. I know that I frustrated the crap outta a bunch of cops who never did catch on to what I was doing ;’)
So I'd have to say, yeah...it's effective. But I'm not near many big cities and the locals tend to use older stuff I guess.
Now pulse or instant-on radar...you don't have a chance. I've been nailed once by that. You can usually tell when it's coming...if there is a car ahead of you that gets "sprayed". The beeper or buzzer goes off and the meter pegs.
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