Banned: Mobile calls while Bush in Sydney

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Talkback 15 comments

    Who owns SydneyAnonymous -- 16/05/07 (in reply to #320079449)

    I mistakenly believed that the Govt was by the people for the people but now it would seem the Govt is by the people for the foreign powers.
    Tuff for business trying to sevice their clients in the city while the "world blunders" are in Sydney.
    Who can I invoice for lost time sitting in a traffic jam cos some clowns motorcade is late / interrupting my free passage around MY TOWN.
    Go have your party someplace else - Canberra would be good.
    And Mr Iemma stop trying to tell Sydneys population it is good for us - how ?
    Is anyone going to spend any extra money here while the clowns are in town; that is apart from the NSW taxpayer.

    Bush in SydneyAnonymous -- 16/05/07

    Using the signal-jamming equipment seems a bit excessive. It was bad enough to interrupt the lives of Sydneysiders by closing down the Harbour Bridge for Cheney's visit! This is all rather ridiculous to me.
    Shouldn't there be infrastructure in place to always ensure that Sydneysiders and tourists of Sydney are safe? Why introduce this extremely inconvenient technology for a day when other less obtrusive practices should already be adopted.

    But...Anonymous -- 16/05/07

    So what if the bad guys rig a bomb to go off when it loses signal to several mobile phones attached to it ?

    i.e. detonation triggered by loss of signal ... hmmmmm ???

    Can't report a crime/accident?Dave Horsfall -- 16/05/07

    Too bad if someone is trying to report a major accident, or a crime...

    Misleading headlineAnonymous -- 17/05/07

    The headline 'Banned: Mobile calls while Bush in Sydney' infers that you won't be able to make a mobile call in the whole of Sydney while Bush is here.
    This is misleading and innacurate. This kind of sensationalism doesn't do you any favours

    Don't worry about the phonesBrit Inamerica -- 18/05/07

    Wait until you see how much of the road system they close down for the motorcade!

    Last I checkedAnonymous -- 18/05/07

    Last I checked that technology isn't just the cellphone band, it also includes things that operate on most RF channels. And that is ALWAYS used, when the motorcade is in motion, so that is in the United States as well as abroad. The USMC also uses it in Iraq and other war zones.

    mobile jammersAnonymous -- 18/05/07

    I though under the communcations act mobile jammers are illegal in australia. They are not allowed to be installed in prisions because they are illegal. sorry there must be a clause to allow them for special occassions/people

    Stick the meeting out in the countryAnonymous -- 18/05/07

    And that way they avoid all these problems:
    - Traffic chaos
    - Phone jamming
    - etc

    Of course they are too important for that and just to prove it they stick the meeting in the most inconvenient locations.

    ISM Band as well ?Anonymous -- 18/05/07

    Well I hope they don't go near too many hospitals...

    2.4 GHz is after all referred to as ISM band... Industrial, Science & Medical.

    How many critical medical devices will go down do you reckon ?

    Bush Causes Cell Phone BanAnonymous -- 18/05/07

    Bush Causes Cell Phone Ban
    BRILLIANT COMMENTS: http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/17/1221255
    ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Banned-Mobile-calls-while-Bush-in-Sydney/0,130061791,339277444,00.htm

    This is a perfect example of what Bruce Schneier calls "movie plot security" - looks good to have black helicopters flying around but doesn't really achieve much.
    http://www.google.com/search?q=movie plot security [google.com]

    PS: Yes, the Madrid bombers used cell phones to detonate the bombs, but they didn't do it by calling the 'phone. They used the alarm clock function.

    Throughout human history, the greatest threat to life and liberty has been not terrorism, but the power of the state.

    Great...Anonymous -- 22/05/07

    I seriously doubt anyone would do anything anyway. . .

    Jamming however wouldnt stop a suicide bomber:P - With that said I highly doubt anyone would do that too.

    I think they whould be more cautious about one of those army rocket launchers being sold and used for that day or just a sniper.

    I think everyone will just be annoyed with the lack of reception if the device works. I also feel sorry for people who use mobile phones for the downtime.

    Mobile Communications BlockerAnonymous -- 14/06/07

    Certainly is ilegal to block communications or specifically phone calls to 000 or is that the US officials visiting don't understand 000 maybe if someone informed them called to 911 would not be able to be made might sink into their thick skulls.

    I agree send em to that place we pay a fortune for to upkeep and house our polies, Canberra I think it's called.

    bush blocking mobilesAnonymous -- 29/08/07

    if he blocks all mobile calls, what about all the emergency 000 calls? is it really right that we risk the lives of hundreds of Australian citizens for one paranoid person? if someone realy wanted to get him they would, blocking phones won't help, it's just so he can flaunt his power over foreign ministers. it is sick and wrong and should not be allowed to take place in australia. he is breaking laws and we are letting him! if we start with this law, what's next? will he be allowed to conscript australian youth every time he decides to go to war next? I am scared.

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