New TSA Rules

By  |  Monday, December 28, 2009 at 10:55 am

Gizmodo has what’s supposedly Homeland Security’s revisions to TSA security rules in the wake of the failed terrorist attack on Christmas. They apply to international flights destined for the U.S., and I bring them up here mostly because they’re going to make it harder for international travelers to use tech: Access to carry-on luggage is banned for the last hour of flights, as are “personal belongings on the lap.” (It’s not clear to me what “on the lap” means–am I allowed to listen to music on my iPhone if I hold it a few inches above my lap, but not if it rests on it?)

The rules also seem to say that inflight entertainment and information services are now verboten, with the exception of canned movies and TV shows:

Disable aircraft-integrated passenger communications systems and services (phone, internet access services, live television programming, global positioning systems) prior to boarding and during all phases of flight.

Can someone explain to me (A) what we learned from the Christmas attack that we didn’t know beforehand that makes it appropriate to change the rules; and (B) why would-be terrorists won’t simply attempt their evil before the final hour of a flight?

 
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10 Comments For This Post

  1. Josh Says:

    Now I am more convinced than ever that flying isn’t worth the trouble. I’ll be driving or taking the train from now on unless it simply isn’t possible to travel by land.

  2. Mikey Says:

    It is easier for government “workers” to put everything in a box. Because this last incident occured just before landing so shall all future incidents – see. Fits in a nice box no heavy thinking required.

  3. tengeta Says:

    Is it really that hard to not use the internet for a while people? Thanks to phones, netbooks, and nationwide networks people are starting to feel a 24/7 right to use the internet everywhere.

  4. Jacob Nahin Says:

    @tengenta the point isn’t so much whether or not we can’t go without electronics, we can. However, so much time is wasted on a flight that it can be made more productive using tech/Internet.
    Still, the better question, as pointed out above, what is going on behind the scvenes here? Something we don’t know? Or is it just to create the illusion of protection and make TSA look like it’s “doing something.”

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    TSA is a joke

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  10. phonecard Says:

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