At 26 Apr 2008 22:25:23 -0400 Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:

> Not at all. If you found that you couldn't call an ambulance to rescue
> your ailing mother, then later found out that the cell phone company had
> made a deliberate decision to leave (or create!) a black hole of signal
> in that area solely for financial reasons, you'd be pissed.


Perhaps, but I chose my cellphone company, coverage holes and all.

> It's the same thing as the restaurant owner creating a black hole of
> signal in his area.

Not at all- the cellco can legally leave holes of coverage- electronic
jamming is illegal.

> You never had a RIGHT to complete an emergency call
> on a cell phone; you made that up out of whole cloth, just because YOU
> don't like the idea of people not wanting you to use a cell phone in a
> restaurant or wherever.

Perhaps, but if the restaurant has a "no cell" policy, post it and threaten
to eject violators, or have customers check their phones at the door.
Surrepititiously interfering with phones is illegal. If a restaurant
doesn't want to allow me to quietly check my e-mail or look up a movie
listing during lunch, let me know upfront, so I can eat elsewhere!