Boston Officials Did Not Shut Down Cell Network After Marathon Bombing 211
An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from Motherboard about the immediate aftermath of yesterday's bomb attack in Boston, which attempts to explain the (unsurprisingly) poor accessibility of the cellular network after the blasts: "Gut instinct suggests that the network must've been overloaded with people trying to find loved ones. At first, the Associated Press said it was a concerted effort to prevent any remote detonators from being used, citing a law enforcement official. After some disputed that report, the AP reversed its report, citing officials from Verizon and Sprint who said they'd never had a request to shut down the network, and who blamed slowdowns on heavy load. (Motherboard's Derek Mead was able to send text messages to both his sister and her boyfriend, who were very near the finish line, shortly after the bombing, which suggests that networks were never totally shut down. Still, shutting down cell phone networks to prevent remote detonation wouldn't be without precedent: It is a common tactic in Pakistan, where bombings happen with regularity.)"
Dumb thing to focus on. (Score:2, Interesting)
Whether cell towers were working or not is a stupid thing to focus on, here. How about the coming absolute surrender of all remaining liberties? Since 9-11, I've repeatedly pointed out that all we need is one more big terrorist event to shake the population enough that we will give up everything. Complaits about the TSA, second amendment, privacy, government and corporate wiretapping without justification. All of it. It is over. We lose.by attacking us, we shell up. We take away our own freedomFOR them. It is time to shutter yro.slashdot, because it no longer matters.