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A comment on California Governor Signs Law Requiring a ‘Kill Switch’ on Smartphones. Parent comment

Re:California Governor Signs Law Requiring a ‘Kill Switch’ o... by ghshephard on Tuesday August 26, 2014 @06:59AM (#8226496)
If a government authority wants to shut down the phone system, why on earth wouldn't the FBI/NSA/CIA just instruct the Telcos to shut down their signal to the area? Seem to be a much more straightforward and simple solution - particularly as there are only 4 or 5 carriers in the bay area.

I seem to recall the BART authority doing something similar with their infrastructure during recent protests - it was quite effective.

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Re:California Governor Signs Law Requiring a ‘Kill Switch’ o... by acdha on Tuesday August 26, 2014 @07:44AM (#8226591)
The idea wouldn't just be the phone system but removing most people's ability to record photos or video. Point-and-shoot cameras are rapidly disappearing now that phones are good enough for most people.
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Re:California Governor Signs Law Requiring a ‘Kill Switch’ o... by DSMan195276 on Tuesday August 26, 2014 @09:27AM (#8226941)
The kill switch is only required to take out 'essential services' of the phone. There's no real reason I could see why the phone's camera couldn't still function even if the kill switch was used.

That said, the bill requires that the kill-switch have an option to be disabled, so there's no reason you couldn't just disable it before hand.

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