A Guy 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Surprise: Federal Court Says Warrant Needed For Mobile Phone Location Info

    A Guy ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2011 @ 07:11pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    I never mentioned e911. In any case it's not an issue for my parents as they've been gone for a few years now.


    Sorry, my mistake.


    from the fcc website:

    Some providers may choose to prevent reactivation of older handsets that do not have E911 capability, or they may adopt various other measures.

    If a provider declines to reactivate a handset that is not location-capable, the FCC still requires the provider to deliver a 911 call from that handset to the appropriate PSAP.


    It looks like it's up to the provider.

  • On the post: Surprise: Federal Court Says Warrant Needed For Mobile Phone Location Info

    A Guy ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2011 @ 04:13pm

    Re:

    Disabling e911 is a bad idea. What if you or your parents get hurt, perhaps in a car accident, and need to call 911?

    Also, as I stated earlier they are tracking you via signal strength, not just via GPS so it won't work anyway.

  • On the post: A Legal Analysis For Why BART's Mobile Phone Shutdown Was Illegal

    A Guy ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2011 @ 03:08pm

    Re:

    It might happen, but Constitutional case law > Patriot Act in a sane legal environment.

  • On the post: A Legal Analysis For Why BART's Mobile Phone Shutdown Was Illegal

    A Guy ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2011 @ 02:54pm

    Re: Re:

    The Patriot Act doesn't apply. The 6 strikes plan is a private agreement between content producers and ISPs. It has a myriad of probably illegal aspects especially related to antitrust. This is just one more violation to add to the pile.

    One way to bring a suit would be to find someone who has been disconnected and used a VOIP service as their phone line. This seems like good caselaw to punish ISPs for selling out their customers.

  • On the post: Surprise: Federal Court Says Warrant Needed For Mobile Phone Location Info

    A Guy ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2011 @ 02:45pm

    Re: I can't turn it off completely..... (Re:)

    I really depends on your phone. With some rooted or hacked devices you can disable the GPS drivers. I think e911 GPS is a good service, so I won't be doing that even if I have the technical ability.

    I did a little more research. I was right, at least in Germany. There, your cell phone company pings your phone once every 7 seconds and is continually refining its algorithms so it can track you better.

    I have no reason to doubt that it's happening here too.

    I tried to post a link in an earlier post, but techdirt didn't like my post. It was a NYTimes article if anyone wishes to Google it.

  • On the post: A Legal Analysis For Why BART's Mobile Phone Shutdown Was Illegal

    A Guy ( profile ), 24 Aug, 2011 @ 02:09pm

    Re:

    It's actually 6 strikes here in the US, but it would appear so. If you use Skype or another VOIP provider they might not have a right to deny you that service.