IP: Cell time for using cell phone

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1999 06:52:55 -0400
> To: farber () cis upenn edu
> From: ACS <custserv () 4cellular com>
>
>
>
> > )
> >
> > Cell time for using cell phone
> > By Daniel Simpson, Reuters
> > July 21, 1999 11:28 AM PT
> > URL:
> > <http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2298512,00.html?chkpt=hpqs014>
> > MANCHESTER, England -- A judge sentenced a British oil worker Wednesday to
> > an unprecedented one year's jail time for endangering an international
> > flight by refusing to switch off his mobile phone.
> > Neil Whitehouse, 28, was convicted of "recklessly and negligently
> > endangering" a British Airways <http://www.british-airways.com/> flight
> > carrying 91 passengers from Madrid to Manchester after he ignored repeated
> > requests from the crew to switch off his phone.
> > "You had no regard for the alarm that would be caused to passengers by your
> > stubborn and ignorant behavior," Judge Anthony Ensor told Whitehouse at
> > Manchester crown court.
> > Ensor said the case was the first time anyone had been prosecuted in Britain
> > for using a mobile phone aboard a plane and there was no precedent to guide
> > him on sentencing.
> > As serious as mid-flight violence
> > The sentence should serve as a warning that mobile phone use on planes,
> > which is illegal in Germany and the United States, would be treated as
> > seriously as violence on board aircraft, Ensor said.
> > Both British Airways and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which looks
> > after the interests of all UK carriers, welcomed the landmark ruling as a
> > step in the right direction.
> > "We welcome the fact that the court has recognized the seriousness of the
> > hazard from mobile phones," BA spokesman Jamie Bowden said.
> > Although Whitehouse made no airborne calls, aviation experts told a
> > three-day trial that radio waves from the phone could have sparked an
> > explosion or affected the Boeing 737's navigational systems as it flew at
> > 31,000 feet.
> > "The scientific evidence showed that there was a real possibility of risk,"
> > Ensor said.
> > "You were sitting six meters (20 feet) away from 100 pieces of complex
> > electrical equipment," he told Whitehouse.
> > Whitehouse, who was sitting over the aircraft's wing fuel tanks, said he had
> > just been preparing a text message to send on his arrival in Manchester.
> > Despite warnings from the pilot and crew he kept his phone on.
> > Interference no big deal
> > His lawyer argued that any potential interference to the plane's systems
> > would have been only for a few seconds and could have been corrected.
> > Judge Ensor called for urgent new legislation specifically covering mobile
> > phone use on planes following CAA evidence given in the trial.
> > Detective Sergeant Rick Bates of Manchester Airport police agreed action was
> > necessary.
> > "The possible consequences in this case could have been far more serious
> > than from on-board violence. Luckily they weren't but that is no guarantee
> > for the future," he said.
> >
> >
> > Michael K. Jones
> > Sr. Product Manager, PGP/VPN/PKI
> > Network Associates, Inc.
> > mjones () nai com
> > Direct: 408-346-3179
> > FAX:    408-346-3650
> > Pager:  888-916-8048
> > PGP Fingerprint: D4D0 E06D 7DF9 736F 49B3 0B63 C081 3AC0 4D6D 2E7E
> >
> > "Who's watching your network?"
> > http://www.nai.com/