Movie theaters to ask for jamming rights

Mar 15 2006 - 09:54 AM ET | In The News

The movie theater business is currently in some trouble thanks to falling attendance quarter after quarter. Some owners believe that instituting cell phone signal jamming will help bring back the crowds.

At ShoWest, a motion picture industry trade show, the president of the National Association of Theater Owners told the audience:

I don't know what's going on with consumers that they have to talk on phones in the middle of theaters... We will actually petition the Federal Communications (Commission) to remove the block (on jamming cell phones)

While signal jamming isn't complicated, it's currently illegal in the US. Supporters of the ban cite safety as the chief concern. Earlier this month we highlighted a new paint technology that promises to selectively block radio signals.