FBI and DHS object to cell phones on airplanes

[2nd Amendment]

No, it's to spy on people, hijacking is just the handy excuse.

 

[GRB]

You caught me, after all I work for DHS. Whoops did I just write that outloud?

 

[Joejojoba111]

I'm slow, what or how does this affect or effect 'crisis situations'?

"The police agencies, for instance, want to be able to eavesdrop on conversations no "more than 10 minutes" after the call is made."

And why don't they specify the evesdropping is only for crisis situations?

 

[c_yeager]

Since all the calls are eminating from a fully enclosed cylinder, they shouldnt be all that hard to tap. Realisticly a single piece of equipment on the PLANE ITSELF could easily moniter all outgoing traffic and then broadcast it to a reciever. That would have the added benefit of making it VERY easy to figure out which particlar aircraft the conversation was taking place on. One could simply eavesdrop on a particular plane that was of interest.

 

[Alex45ACP]

No, we're not turning into a police state. You have nothing to worry about... unless you're a terrorist!

 

[Alex45ACP]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the real reason you can't make cell-phone calls on an airplane is because they are free, and the airplane has it's own phones that aren't free.

"Sorry, you can't use your cell phone for *safety* reasons... but feel free to use ours for $5 a minute."