Mobile Phone Blackout Bar

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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May 18, 1997
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I have found that the best way to get someone's attention that will not get off of their damn phone is to simply slap it out of their hands. It usually generates a good bit of entertainment as well. This guy apparently got tired of doing that and built a Faraday Cage around his entire bar over on the other side of the Atlantic. I am fairly sure we can't legally do that here in the US, but we can still dream can't we?

Steve Tyler put silver foil in the walls and copper wire mesh in the ceiling of the Gin Tub in Hove. He said he was tired of people coming in and not socialising with each other or with anyone else in the building.

His patrons probably drink more now too.
 
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Probably not a place I'd continue to be a patron at. Fuck him for deciding that while I'm in his establishment I'm not allowed to use my phone.

Alternatively, it's his business and he can do with it what he likes, so while I disagree and wouldn't drink there, I can't truly fault him.
 
Probably not a place I'd continue to be a patron at. Fuck him for deciding that while I'm in his establishment I'm not allowed to use my phone.

Alternatively, it's his business and he can do with it what he likes, so while I disagree and wouldn't drink there, I can't truly fault him.

Yeah. He's a terrible person. :meh:
 
Yeah its a shame it takes something extreme like this to get people off their phones.
 
Best idea ever.

The legality is a little blurry.
Any device that jams or disrupts cell phone calls, text messages, or other wireless communications by emitting an interfering radio frequency signal is illegal and may not be marketed or operated in the United States.​
Wire mesh and foil don't emit an interfering signal.
but
No person shall willfully or maliciously interfere with or cause interference to any radio communications of any station licensed or authorized by or under this chapter or operated by the United States Government.​
The owner of a convenience store where i lived installed had a cell jammer. Nothing happened, is it even enforced.

Where they need jammers is in prisons, makes it hard to order H when your smuggled phone is blocked.

https://transition.fcc.gov/eb/jammerenforcement/jamfaq.pdf
 
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General law. You can't block or interfere with radio transmissions in a public place.

It's not a public place. It's a privately owned bar.

Any device that jams or disrupts cell phone calls, text messages, or other wireless communications by emitting an interfering radio frequency signal is illegal and may not be marketed or operated in the United States.
Wire mesh and foil don't emit an interfering signal.
but
No person shall willfully or maliciously interfere with or cause interference to any radio communications of any station licensed or authorized by or under this chapter or operated by the United States Government.​
The owner of a convenience store where i lived installed had a cell jammer. Nothing happened, is it even enforced.

Where they need jammers is in prisons, makes it hard to order H when your smuggled phone is blocked.

https://transition.fcc.gov/eb/jammerenforcement/jamfaq.pdf

1. It's not a device. It's a structure. It is not operated. There are no moving parts. There is no on/off switch. There is no power switch. It requires no energy to run. It simply exists.
2. It's definitely not a jammer. It does not emit any signal.
3. It does not disrupt signals. It only blocks them.
4. It does not interfere with or cause interference. Again, it only blocks.

It is perfectly legal to construct a Faraday cage in any privately owned space in the US.

(Edited a bit immediately after I posted, to clean up a bit.)
 
Building a Faraday cage around your bar would not be illegal in the US. Its completely passive, just a big grounded cage. Heck, some buildings act this way on their own (the interior of many hospitals in the Earthquake prone west, for example, have so much structural steel that the get this effect for "free").

Actively jamming is a different story. You can't transmit an interfering signal - intentionally or accidentally. This would be bad, indeed. But a big grounded cage is no worry at all - even if done expressly for the purpose of preventing radio communication.
 
General law. You can't block or interfere with radio transmissions in a public place.

Is a privately owned bar in the US considered a public place ? I thought the main issue the US Gov had with jamming tech in places like movie houses was the tech was small enough to be transported, so they went after the sellers. I don't know I can't remember... if that's the case lining walls wouldn't likely have the same issues would it ? Ahh never mind I'm sure its all about ensuring the tracking tech stays live at all times... err I mean that you have constant 911 service that is. :) lol I am not sure what people did 30 years ago when something bad happened.
 
Is a privately owned bar in the US considered a public place ? I thought the main issue the US Gov had with jamming tech in places like movie houses was the tech was small enough to be transported, so they went after the sellers. I don't know I can't remember... if that's the case lining walls wouldn't likely have the same issues would it ? Ahh never mind I'm sure its all about ensuring the tracking tech stays live at all times... err I mean that you have constant 911 service that is. :) lol I am not sure what people did 30 years ago when something bad happened.

They died.
 
I wouldn't go there if I was a customer, and I wouldn't implement it if I was the owner, because the Faraday cage would interfere with calling Emergency services, or if one of the patrons have an Emergency and have no idea they'd be in a Faraday cage. Anything that interferes with that is a big no-no.

Yes, you can all argue "what's the chances of that happening", I say "would you still think the same way if it happened to you or a family member, or would you sue the establishment to death for implementing that Faraday Cage"?

Offering no free Wifi, fine, since there IS some economic incentive for this, but actively preventing phones from receiving at least a cellphone signal is very far beyond the line.
 
How about just using several layers of radiant barrier? It would have the same effect.
In fact I'm surprised movie theaters don't do this already.
 
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I hate tell this but even a Bar that open to public is a public place a privately bar would be like a Golf Clubs course where need membership

Yep. If you allow the general public in it's a public place. In some cases, even private places with membership (like Costco) are considered a public place.

Your home is a private residence. The bar is not.

In addition, even though your home, land, business, building or otherwise may be a private place, generally speaking, illegal things are still illegal. There are some exceptions to that. You might say be able to operate a jammer on Native American land if you were a Native American by such and such percentage of blood. Heck maybe even if you aren't. Go find out!
 
I hate tell this but even a Bar that open to public is a public place a privately bar would be like a Golf Clubs course where need membership

You type like someone who believes he can't be kicked out of a bar if he doesn't want to leave.
 

Yep. If you allow the general public in it's a public place. In some cases, even private places with membership (like Costco) are considered a public place.

Your home is a private residence. The bar is not.


Some of you are badly misinterpreting what a public space is and attempting to apply public space rules to everywhere that is open to the public. "Open to the public" and "public space" are two entirely different things.

In addition, even though your home, land, business, building or otherwise may be a private place, generally speaking, illegal things are still illegal. There are some exceptions to that. You might say be able to operate a jammer on Native American land if you were a Native American by such and such percentage of blood. Heck maybe even if you aren't. Go find out!

Again with the jammer talk. We're talking about Faraday cages, which are not jammers.
 
All of you people worried about "what if we need emergency services?"

I'm sure there is at least one Landline there. If not, I'm sure someone wouldn't mind stepping outside the front door to call them either. I say more power to this guy! It is annoying as shit when trying to engage someone who is on their phone constantly.
 
I wouldn't go there if I was a customer, and I wouldn't implement it if I was the owner, because the Faraday cage would interfere with calling Emergency services, or if one of the patrons have an Emergency and have no idea they'd be in a Faraday cage. Anything that interferes with that is a big no-no.

Yes, you can all argue "what's the chances of that happening", I say "would you still think the same way if it happened to you or a family member, or would you sue the establishment to death for implementing that Faraday Cage"?

Offering no free Wifi, fine, since there IS some economic incentive for this, but actively preventing phones from receiving at least a cellphone signal is very far beyond the line.

They addressed this in the article. There is a landline phone in the bar for emergency calls. Holy shit I know, a phone that's attached to a cord actually still successfully makes phone calls.
 
They addressed this in the article. There is a landline phone in the bar for emergency calls. Holy shit I know, a phone that's attached to a cord actually still successfully makes phone calls.
That was addressed in the second half of my post.

The landline solves Emergencies that happen to the person in the shop.

Doesn't solve the problem of not being able to contact the person in the shop if the emergency happen elsewhere (EG Kindergarten/School in need to contact the parent). A person is unlikely going to be announcing to the world (at least to everyone in his/her world) that "I am heading into a Faraday cage, please dial this number in the case of emergency".

And no need to be sarcastic about it either.
 

Some of you are badly misinterpreting what a public space is and attempting to apply public space rules to everywhere that is open to the public. "Open to the public" and "public space" are two entirely different things.



Again with the jammer talk. We're talking about Faraday cages, which are not jammers.

I think they're kind of missing the bigger picture anyway... if you simply said that you did it for "structural reasons" or *insert (total BS) excuse here*... I doubt anyone can really get onto you. Like oh dang, your bar just happens to get absolutely terrible (read: nonexistent) cell signal here. Wow. What a strange coincidence. It's always been like that.I don't know why it's like that, but it's always been like that. >.> Many places are already ALMOST like that, including my second set of dorms back at college. Then you don't get on cell phone crusader's bad side (it's just an unfortunate circumstance that would take too much money to change) and it's much harder to get the law going after you.
 
That was addressed in the second half of my post.

The landline solves Emergencies that happen to the person in the shop.

Doesn't solve the problem of not being able to contact the person in the shop if the emergency happen elsewhere (EG Kindergarten/School in need to contact the parent). A person is unlikely going to be announcing to the world (at least to everyone in his/her world) that "I am heading into a Faraday cage, please dial this number in the case of emergency".

And no need to be sarcastic about it either.

What is a parent doing in a bar during school hours? In my experience a drunk parent is a bad parent.
 
...

I guess everyone missed my point...

I was only using schools as a EXAMPLE, and there are OTHER reasons to go to a bar in other parts of the world (some bars serve lunch and dinner so they act as restaurants during working hours).

A bar isn't just for getting boozed up or for getting laid in parts of the world.

Also, I wasn't emphasising a BAR doing this, but the fact that someone is building the FARADAY CAGE
 
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Again, my word "active" refers to the person implementing it, as in going out of his/her way to put the cage in there, as opposed to being simply part of the structural component of it (like rebars).

"Active" in my post has nothing to do with the way it blocks. Sure, Faraday cage is passive, but the cage doesn't exist on its own, it has to be implemented deliberately, which is an active conscious decision on the part of the owner.
 
At the end of the day..no one is being forced to go into that bar. You make a choice to go in...and have a face to face conversation with people.

Great idea and I can see it catching on in the UK.

As long as patrons are made aware that signals are blocked before they enter...no further discussion required.

They are adults after all.
 
I love this and wish more places would implement the same cage. I find this generation of nose to the phone is ignorant, my daughter knows that if I take her out and she is to busy on her phone I will flat out leave her or block her phone and data usage.
While you were busy in your pokeman go or faceplantbook I just saw a pair of hummingbirds fighting, a locust emerge from it's shell, a shooting star, 3 nip slips and had a cream cheese danish and a coffee while having a good conversation with a stranger.
 
They died.

Usually, somebody just picked up the land line. We are talking about an on the grid establishment inside a city, not the wilderness.

It's a business decision, as long as potential patrons are informed what is the big deal?
The EMS argument sounds very much like addicts grasping at straws.
An external emergency that you could be the deciding factor in is BS too, since the choice to not go to that bar is always available.
 
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lol. Passive absorption of the rf spectrum is completely 100% legal.

You're not allowed to actively send out rf signals for the purpose of jamming is all.

If you want to tin foil your house/work place, go for it.
 
Constructing a faraday cage around an establishment built for face to face socialization is a great idea. I hope some business owners in the US adopt this thinking.

Some people have become way too dependent on mobile devices. I've had a cellphone since the 90's but always keep my use of it to a minimum. I think it is bad manners to use a cellphone in public. I get annoyed even when I'm out with friends and family and they answer a phone call while we're at a restaurant. Of course I wouldn't try to force this on others and I don't try to correct friends and family who annoy me. We live in a cultural melting pot. If your cultural upbringing gives you poor etiquette that's ok. I fart in your general direction.
 
I wouldn't go there if I was a customer, and I wouldn't implement it if I was the owner, because the Faraday cage would interfere with calling Emergency services, or if one of the patrons have an Emergency and have no idea they'd be in a Faraday cage. Anything that interferes with that is a big no-no.

I would want to put in the cage but not tell anyone about it. You would get sued out of business in the US if something bad happened. I understand in the UK that suing for something like this would be much harder.
 
Why on earth (sorry, electrical pun) would anyone be sued? As long as customers are informed that the passive Faraday Cage is in place and cell phone reception will be affected (and that's not even necessary), there should be no issue. My goodness! What did we do before the days of cell phones?

And in case you weren't aware. all of the critical military infrastructure in the world is "hardened" to withstand EMP radiation. How? A Faraday Cage. You can see how it was built here, in a film showing the construction of the Diefenbunker. Diefenbunker Canada's cold war museum
 
Why on earth (sorry, electrical pun) would anyone be sued? As long as customers are informed that the passive Faraday Cage is in place and cell phone reception will be affected (and that's not even necessary), there should be no issue. My goodness! What did we do before the days of cell phones?

And in case you weren't aware. all of the critical military infrastructure in the world is "hardened" to withstand EMP radiation. How? A Faraday Cage. You can see how it was built here, in a film showing the construction of the Diefenbunker. Diefenbunker Canada's cold war museum
What about any signals that are effectively lost by consequence of being near the faraday cage? The structure was built for the purpose of interference so the unintended consequence would give way to legal liability.
 
I'd go with rotary dial landlines. Then all the hipsters would be like "how does this work?' and 'I can't see the number"
 
What about any signals that are effectively lost by consequence of being near the faraday cage? The structure was built for the purpose of interference so the unintended consequence would give way to legal liability.
Mobile access is not a right, last time I checked. Passive interference is neither a criminal nor a civil issue. However, lawyers would make lots of money.
 
Mobile access is not a right, last time I checked. Passive interference is neither a criminal nor a civil issue. However, lawyers would make lots of money.
Say the business right next to it claims damages from the result of the intentional blocking of signals. Afterall this isn't passive interference by happenstance it's intentional interference.
 
I think some of you are giving too much credit to humanity and general human sanity. While arguing about this isn't very productive, you guys forget there are people in our country who watch television shows that offend them, just so they can bitch, complain and litigate. Even if you named the bar "No Fucking Cells!", there would be people that would come in, try to use their cell phones and when they couldn't, it would be an issue. Because if this wasn't an issue, it would be a thing here, like common. Particularly at theaters, both movie and play types, etc. It seems stupid, but I also think you would either get shutdown or sued to death, but I don't have an exact reason why, and even if I did, it would probably sound stupid as fuck saying it out loud.
 
Say the business right next to it claims damages from the result of the intentional blocking of signals. Afterall this isn't passive interference by happenstance it's intentional interference.

Just like in football, blocking and interference are two entirely different things. Someone with a username like yours should know better.

An owner of a Faraday cage structure is not liable for a lack of signal in another location. It's up to the cell phone providers to provide signals to their customers. They do this by deploying multiple cell towers. If a citizen or a business is suffering from poor cell phone reception in their location, they need to speak to the cell phone providers.
 
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