How Did BART Kill Cellphone Service?
The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART) shut down subterranean cellular phone service on August 11, stifling protests that had been set to take place on its train platforms that day. Demonstrators had planned to stop trains from running in response to the fatal shooting of an unarmed passenger by the BART police on July 3. But without the ability to coordinate their efforts via cellphones, acts of civil disobedience never crystallized.In the days since, a media firestorm has ensued over a perceived violation of civil liberties by transit system officials. A hacker group has targeted BART, and the Federal Communications Commission has begun an investigation. All that aside, though: How exactly did BART disable cellular service, and could it happen elsewhere? [More]
