Posted
8/01/2008 05:21:00 PM
by Douglas
If the government could pass a law that would keep me from being annoyed by some obnoxious jack-hole in an airplane, I'd vote for it, but this is blatant manipulation by the FCC, not the
FAA.A bill that would stifle in-flight cellular calls despite emerging technologies that finally make them feasible is headed for the U.S. House of Representatives.
The proposed Halting Airplane Noise to Give Us Peace (HANG UP) Act was approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on a voice vote Thursday. It would make permanent the long-standing ban on such calls by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Federal Communications Commission. The next stop for the bill will be the full House, after which companion legislation would also have to be passed by the Senate and signed by President George W. Bush. A companion measure has been introduced as part of an FAA reauthorization measure in the Senate.
I'm sure the Verizon approved phone will be perfectly acceptable when they figure out a way to make their 50ยข a minute phone work for idiots that have to tell their baby's daddy about the baggage handler.