In news from Associated Press, the US congress have made it harder for federal prisoners to use mobile technology on the inside. Last Tuesday the house voted to pass the Cellphone Contraband Act of 2010, and close a federal loophole relating to mobile technology and its specific definition as contraband.
In recent reports from the American prison system, cell phones were found to sell on the black market for between $500 to $1000. Corrupt prison officers have been found dealing in mobile technology, with one correctional officer known to have made about $150,000 in a single year from the smuggling and selling of mobile phones.
The new bill is an amendment to title 18 of the United States Code, and expressly prohibits the “possession or use of cellphones and similar wireless devices by Federal prisoners.” A similar bill has also passed in the senate, sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. These problems are not isolated to the United States, with some other countries also having problems relating to prisoners and their use of mobile technology.
Recently in Australia for instance, reports have also leaked about prisoners updating their FaceBook pages on a regular basis. Whether Australian prisoners are obtaining access to mobiles on the inside or getting relatives to update their social networking profiles is unknown, and some people are calling for all prisoner profiles to be deleted.
While this kind of ban is highly unlikely, it goes to show just how upset some people are about the inability of the state to control the digital lifestyles of prisoners. Recent reports in the United States have linked cell phone usage in prisons to a number of criminal business activities, including murder, drug operations, and credit card fraud; so access to technology by prisoners may not be as harmless as many people think.
It seems the ubiquity of technology in modern society is creating a number of problems, both in American and elsewhere, and people are livid about prisoners having access to mobile technology. The new legislation in America will help to address this imbalance, and is likely to subject anyone attempting to smuggle in a phone or mobile computer with up to one year in prison.
