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CTIA Turns to the Constitution to Fight SF's SAR Law

Apr 2, 2011, 8:03 AM by Eric M. Zeman

The CTIA Wireless trade group continues to fight San Francisco's proposed "right-to-know" ordinance, which would require phone retailers to place the specific absorption rate (SAR) score next to each handset they sell. The SAR indicates how much radiation is absorbed by the body when using a cellular telephone. When the ordinance was first proposed, the CTIA said it would sew confusion among the public, and create false impressions over the supposed safety value of mobile phones based on their SAR number. Now, the CTIA says the law would break the first amendment rights of the retailers. CTIA spokesman John Walls said, "You can't compel speech. Telling retailers to give out that information violates the First Amendment." The CTIA has sued San Francisco, though the lawsuit is on hold, and went so far as to move its annual fall trade show from San Francisco to San Diego, instead. The legislation is set to take effect June 15.

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Comments

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This forum is closed.

kvlt

Apr 4, 2011, 2:53 PM

Any radiation emitting device should be labeled as such.

Fact: Radiation has a cumulative effect on the body.

Ask doctors why they opt for the pat down instead of the body scanners at airports.

Azeron

They are, but no one is making Best Buy place a fact sheet next to every microwave, television, play station, ipod, stereo and computer it cells. Why are they singling out cell phones? San Francisco is out of line on this one.

teh.Cheeto

Apr 4, 2011, 3:42 PM

what...

what is it inside the phones that creates the radiation?

WiWavelength

teh.Cheeto said:
what is it inside the phones that creates the radiation?

Is this a serious question?

Modulation of electromagnetic radiation is the central operating principle of wireless communications.

AJ

...

msteven3

Apr 4, 2011, 9:04 AM

Outrageous, but interesting

This is one of those arguments that is utterly outrageous but that could have huge implications. I mean, if this would somehow hold water with the courts, all sorts of things would be affected, including:

Nutritional information on food
Warning labels on cigarettes
Drug monographs included when you get a prescription filled
Health ratings posted in restaurants
Ingredients in foods
Fuel efficiency ratings of vehicles

Odds are, this lawsuit will be laughed out of court, but if it isn't, it could be huge.

ELawson87

Apr 2, 2011, 11:58 AM

Wow.

This is an even more whacked-out interpretation of Constitutional law than some of the stuff I've read here from the anti-net neutrality people. By this reasoning, it's unconstitutional to force drug companies to list ingredients on a medicine's packaging. Absolutely ridiculous.

kazahani

It's all about interpretation. Taken literally, the first amendment does not permit any of those things, however the government has been allowed to pass "reasonable regulations" by the court system. CTIA is suing because they claim San Francisco's pol...
(continues)

island-guy

It's like these carbon footprint scores on cars now and like the Surgeon general's warning on cigarettes. I don't know of a single instance where someone bought one phone over the other due to the lower SAR rating, which are available by the way. CTIA...
(continues)

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pickles

i agree, but i'm not sure where i stand. i think the SF SAR law is just as ridiculous as the constitutional argument the CTIA is making. The SAR ratings of phones will just confuse consumers. A phone with a lower SAR rating isn't necessarily any safer...
(continues)

Globhead

It isn't just the number, it is whether the number has been proven to mean anything.

The relevance of aspirin in a tablet is established as fact. It matters how much aspirin is in a tablet for both effect and safety.

The SAR has no established ...
(continues)

...

cellgeek82

I agree. What's this world coming to? The stupid stuff people cry about these days. Same thing with lawsuits. I understand if you patent something you want your rights but some of these lawsuits are very stupid. Same thing with the "separation of...
(continues)

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ctm88

Apr 2, 2011, 4:19 PM

Crazy

I think if they want to throw such a big fit over it just ask the manufacturer of the specific phone...

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