What's More Rude: Cellphone Jabberers or Jammers?

It amazes me that people would actually believe it would be LEGAL to operate a device whose sole purpose is to INTERFERE with a licensed device. They do make cell phone "jammers" and people who are upset by people talking on their cell phones in place they should not (in terms of etiquette) are using them to silence the "offender" rather than asking them to speak quietly or elsewhere. Imagine how the jammer would feel when they found out the person they jammed was a doctor who'd been paged by the hospital because a patient was DYING.

The entire FCC document (a Word doc, number DA-05-1776, June 27, 2005) confirming that such equipment is illegal is at this link. It's called

Sale or Use of Transmitters Designed to Prevent, Jam or Interfere with Cell Phone Communications is Prohibited in the United States

Here's the essence of the document:

In response to multiple inquiries concerning the sale and use of transmitters designed to prevent, jam or interfere with the operation of cellular and personal communications service (PCS) telephones, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is issuing this Public Notice to make clear that the marketing, sale, or operation of this type of equipment is unlawful. Anyone involved with such activities may be subject to forfeitures, fines or even criminal prosecution.


Cellular and PCS telephones provide valuable wireless communications services to the American public for business and personal communications. Recently, however, the FCC has seen a growing interest in devices -- called “cellular jammers” or “cell phone jammers” -- designed to deliberately jam or disrupt wireless communications. Inquiries about the use of cellular jammers are often accompanied by comments that the use of wireless phones in public places is disruptive and annoying. Advertisements for cellular jammers suggest that the devices may be used on commuter trains, in theaters, hotels, restaurants and other locations the public frequents.

I've had people occasionally use cell phones in manners that were, I felt, not courteous. And not being someone who lives in a big city where folks are on subways and buses a lot, maybe I haven't been as directly affected by this as other have. But it seems to me the answer is far worse than the problem. Nobody has the right to interfere with your communications but they have the right to ask you to take them elsewhere.