# Cell Phone Jammer -- Any Way It's Legal in USA? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 31, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364 "2008-07-31T15:22:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/1 "2008-07-31T15:22:03Z")
In a never-ending quest to have a nice meal at a restaurant without having to listen to the continual “Beeeeep” and both ends of the conversation on those cursed walkie-talkie phones, I discovered that one could buy hand-held cell phone jammers. However, they appear to violate FCC regs or state regsor something in most if not all of the United States. So my question is, does anyone know if they are allowed under any conditions? That is, power less than xxx milliwatts, or only in the following states/counties, or …? (I don’t have anything against folk using their regular cell phones, if they talk in a normal tone and don’t shout at the top of their lungs, but that damned continual beeping is as annoying as being bitten by mosquitoes, and having to listen to the other end of the conversation which is usually turned up REAL LOUD is just unbearable. ) Note: I’m not asking for advice on how to illegally do something, but rather how to legally do it…or even if I can legally do it. Mods, if this is better suited to MPSIMS or IMHO, please move it with my apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/2 "2008-07-31T15:53:02Z")
Radio transmitters and things that can generate RF energy are regulated by the FCC in order to ensure that there’s no interference with other frequencies, and to ensure that there’s nothing to interfere with permitted and/or licenses uses of frequencies. Given that, I don’t know that there’s a specific regulation outlawing the devices _per se_, but there’s nothing currently approved by the FCC for such public use. The more interesting question is whether passive “jamming” is permitted. I know that my local Sam’s Club and local Lowes both act as natural Faraday cages, but I wonder if there’s anything in federal code prohibiting intential installation of a signal grounding type of barrier. I would like to think that private property rights trump the rights of cell phone users, but there’s so much going against private property owners these days, that I can’t help but to wonder. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/3 "2008-07-31T16:25:59Z")
From [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_jammer) > [@](#): > > # United States: Illegal to operate, manufacture, import, or offer for sale, including advertising (Communications Act of 1934)[4], with fines of up to $11,000 and imprisonment of up to one year. [5] ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/4 "2008-07-31T16:26:10Z")
[QUOTE=Balthisar] Given that, I don’t know that there’s a specific regulation outlawing the devices \*per se[/i… [/QUOTE] There is. The FCC has quite explicitly forbidden them. If no one else has by the time I get home tonight, I’ll link you up with a cite. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/5 "2008-07-31T16:27:49Z")
More on the legalities, along with [how they work.](http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone-jammer5.htm) Interesting stuff. My office building is a natural faraday cage due to its construction. I like it! ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/6 "2008-07-31T16:27:56Z")
[Cell phone jammers are illegal in the United States](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/technology/04jammer.html). I’m looking for the actual statute but not finding it. I have read it previously. ETA: Well hell, that’s what I get for searching for a good story. Scooped again! Cell phone jamming was a plot hole in an episode of “Veronica Mars.” Part of someone’s alibi was that he couldn’t have used a cell phone to trigger an explosion because he was inside a casino and the casino jammed cell communications. Nope. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/7 "2008-07-31T16:34:37Z")
As an aside, has there ever been a prosecution of someone using one of the portable jammers? I am in a restaurant and have one that I am using. How would anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/8 "2008-07-31T16:50:01Z")
[The statute is 47 USC 302a](http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+47USC302a) > [@](#): > > TITLE 47–TELEGRAPHS, TELEPHONES, AND RADIOTELEGRAPHS > > ``` > CHAPTER 5--WIRE OR RADIO COMMUNICATION > > SUBCHAPTER III--SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO RADIO > > Part I--General Provisions > > ``` > > Sec. 302a. Devices which interfere with radio reception > (a) Regulations > > ``` > The Commission may, consistent with the public interest, > > ``` > > convenience, and necessity, make reasonable regulations (1) governing > the interference potential of devices which in their operation are > capable of emitting radio frequency energy by radiation, conduction, or > other means in sufficient degree to cause harmful interference to radio > communications; and (2) establishing minimum performance standards for > home electronic equipment and systems to reduce their susceptibility to > interference from radio frequency energy. Such regulations shall be > applicable to the manufacture, import, sale, offer for sale, or shipment > of such devices and home electronic equipment and systems, and to the > use of such devices. > > (b) Restrictions > > ``` > No person shall manufacture, import, sell, offer for sale, or ship > > ``` > > devices or home electronic equipment and systems, or use devices, which > fail to comply with regulations promulgated pursuant to this section. > > (c) Exceptions > > ``` > The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to carriers > > ``` > > transporting such devices or home electronic equipment and systems > without trading in them, to devices or home electronic equipment and > systems manufactured solely for export, to the manufacture, assembly, or > installation of devices or home electronic equipment and systems for its > own use by a public utility engaged in providing electric service, or to > devices or home electronic equipment and systems for use by the > Government of the United States or any agency thereof. Devices and home > electronic equipment and systems for use by the Government of the United > States or any agency thereof shall be developed, procured, or otherwise > acquired, including offshore procurement, under United States Government > criteria, standards, or specifications designed to achieve the > objectives of reducing interference to radio reception and to home > electronic equipment and systems, taking into account the unique needs > of national defense and security. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/9 "2008-07-31T16:58:14Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] As an aside, has there ever been a prosecution of someone using one of the portable jammers? I am in a restaurant and have one that I am using. How would anyone know? [/QUOTE] I couldn’t find anything regarding a prosecution for using a portable jammer. The FCC seems more focused on [keeping them out of the US in the first place](http://search2.fcc.gov/search/index.htm?job=search&site=fcc_all&q=cell+phone+jammer&Submit+search+request.x=15&Submit+search+request.y=11). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/10 "2008-07-31T17:00:15Z")
So how much retrofitting would it take to turn a restaurant into a Faraday cage? If it was cheap and feasible, I could see people doing it and advertising the fact. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/11 "2008-07-31T17:41:31Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] I couldn’t find anything regarding a prosecution for using a portable jammer. The FCC seems more focused on [keeping them out of the US in the first place](http://search2.fcc.gov/search/index.htm?job=search&site=fcc_all&q=cell+phone+jammer&Submit+search+request.x=15&Submit+search+request.y=11). [/QUOTE] Yes, but how hard would it be to buy one? [Say, on eBay?](http://cgi.ebay.com/Mobile-Cell-Phone-Blocker-Blocking-Jammer_W0QQitemZ250277326847QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item250277326847&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177) Silenus: my office is in an all metal building. Sucks big time in hail storms! Retrofitting has been tried in Japan, I believe. [Found it!](http://www.wirelessnewsfactor.com/perl/story/18479.html) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/12 "2008-07-31T18:10:55Z")
I used to work in a Faraday cage, testing and tuning radios that were not licensed for use in Canada. The first one we had at work was of astonishingly-primitive construction: a frame of 2x4 lumber with two layers of copper screening, one inside and one outside. AC power for the equipment inside was passed through filters. The door had two copper fringes, one on the inside and one on the outside, that contacted copper areas on the doorframe. It was quite open; it was placed on the shop floor and the occupant inside was plainly visible. A fan ouside had no problem blowing air through it. But tune a portable radio to a powerful local station and take it inside and close the door, and the music produced from the incoming external radio signals faded to a hiss of thermal noise produced within the circuits of the radio itself. Later Faraday cages were solid metal rooms that resembled bank vaults. These required ventilation systems. And there were filters and screens on the air ducts. I see no reason an auditorium would not be built with a screen layer in the walls. That much copper screening or metal sheathing would be expensive though; it would all have to be electrically joined together and then connected to ground. Would it be possible to add a cellular transceiver that would only pass calls to _some_ phones? Say, ones that were registered at reception as being part of Emergency Services? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/13 "2008-07-31T20:24:35Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] …Cell phone jamming was a plot hole in an episode of “Veronica Mars.” Part of someone’s alibi was that he couldn’t have used a cell phone to trigger an explosion because he was inside a casino and the casino jammed cell communications. Nope. [/QUOTE] The casino could’ve line the walles of the gaming floor with metal to creat a Faraday cage without (AFAIK) breaking any laws. Law enforcement (the Secret Service in particular) are allowed to use jammers. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/14 "2008-07-31T21:00:27Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] Yes, but how hard would it be to buy one? [Say, on eBay?](http://cgi.ebay.com/Mobile-Cell-Phone-Blocker-Blocking-Jammer_W0QQitemZ250277326847QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item250277326847&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177) [/QUOTE] Pretty tricky, I’d guess. The item has been removed. No doubt it violates their policies as an illegal item. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/15 "2008-07-31T21:26:41Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] Pretty tricky, I’d guess. The item has been removed. No doubt it violates their policies as an illegal item. [/QUOTE] I read it when it was still there. It seemed to be intended for European cellphone frequencies. So it would have been illegal in the US even if jammers could be legal in the US… because it would be transmitting on the wrong frequencies. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/16 "2008-08-01T04:37:10Z")
I’d just like to thank everyone for the information and their hard work. This place really rocks! It was very interesting, too. Guess I’ll have to stick to smashing the infernal things to bits with my Louisville Slugger. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/17 "2008-08-01T15:09:25Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] The casino could’ve line the walles of the gaming floor with metal to creat a Faraday cage without (AFAIK) breaking any laws. [/QUOTE] IIRC (I don’t really care enough to pop in the DVD) the dialog was specific that the casino was using a jammer. But I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![MrBelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7feea3/32.png) [@MrBelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrBelding)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/18 "2008-08-01T16:33:08Z")
Yeah, I’m pretty sure some Casinos do. Especially in their highest stakes rooms. That prevents someone behind the table texting or calling to alert someone of the cards they see or whatever. It’s just too risky to have people in contact like that…from their point of view. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/19 "2008-08-01T16:42:42Z")
[QUOTE=MrBelding] Yeah, I’m pretty sure some Casinos do. Especially in their highest stakes rooms. That prevents someone behind the table texting or calling to alert someone of the cards they see or whatever. It’s just too risky to have people in contact like that…from their point of view. [/QUOTE] Shouldn’t casino security be watching players anyway? For instance, I know you’re not supposed to ever put your hands under the table. Cell phone jamming is just wrong. Apart from people who legitimately need to be reachable at all times, like doctors, many people depend on cellular technology for broadband access. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364/20 "2008-08-01T18:29:17Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] Cell phone jamming is just wrong. Apart from people who legitimately need to be reachable at all times, like doctors, many people depend on cellular technology for broadband access. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but everything has its place. Private property is private property. Maybe part of my accepting you onto my property is recognition that your phone signals are blocked (not jammed, as that’d be illegal). You then have your right not to enter the property. In fact, I’d argue that I’d prefer blocking to checking my cell phone (certain businesses and government offices, for example). Plus, there was once a dark age when no one had cell phones. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cell-phone-jammer-any-way-its-legal-in-usa/458364.md?page=2)