I don’t know what happens in cinemas from where you are, but in the UK we have quite a few pre-film adverts to remind you all to switch off your mobile phones.
In fact the mobile phone company Orange have gone so far as to sponsor these adverts and produce some of the funniest trailers there are. I’ve just tried a quick search and I haven’t found them, shame as they are fantastic and with some big name stars. Even though they’ve been playing a while the audience is still guaranteed a laugh.
Anyway, I digress. So here it’s quite frowned upon to leave your phone on, and I’ve only ever heard one go off once. In France, however, it seems to be a different story. The Guardian Film site reported that the French Government has just legalised the use of mobile phone jammers in cinemas, theatres and concert halls. No choice in the matter, your phone will not work apart from emergency calls.
This is all thanks to a small blocker gizmo (from a UK company!) that blocks signals in a 30 metre radius.
Apparently the ticket sales were being so negatively affected that the Government decided to deal with things directly and force the patron to not use their phones. You won’t believe this quote…very PC of the French.
Patrick Devedjian, the French industry minister, said: “It’s the same for concerts. You know how it is when thugs let their phones ring during a concert.” He added: “But that’s all over now.”
Go get ’em! Previously you could have been fined for using one of these boxes, up to €30,000. I did read somewhere that an Irish cinema had tried this, but a mobile phone company had threatened legal action and they had to back down – I’ll try and find that story.
I’m not sure how I feel about this, to be honest I don’t think it really affects me. The phone is off anyway, and I’m a big hater of anything interrupting my movie experience (post will follow regarding this very subject). However…
Prison officials and school governors are also campaigning to be allowed to install similar devices, and some restaurant owners are doing the same.
Now that does start to concern me. Prisons and schools fine (same thing?!), but restaurants? I could rapidly see this start to get a bit out of hand, and the “bleed” out into the streets around the premises from the device could cause a nuisance. What do you think about the move?
