[Infowarrior] - TSA To Save Print Media?

[Richard Forno]

TSA To Save Print Media? No Electronics On International Flights? What  
A Joke.
MG Siegler
TechCrunch.com
Saturday, December 26, 2009; 10:22 AM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/26/AR2009122601168_pf.html
Before I begin, let me just state that TSA has yet to confirm any of  
this on its website, so the details aren't entirely clear at the  
moment. That said, there are several indications that orders have been  
issued to cease the use of electronics during international flights.  
Yes, that means no laptops, no iPods, no Kindles, no CD players, no  
portable DVD players, no Nintendo DSes ? nothing that requires any  
sort of power on these flights. If this is true, it's absolutely awful  
news.

Obviously, this is all in reaction to the Nigerian man who attempted  
to bring down a plane coming into the U.S. And the TSA is going to do  
whatever it thinks is necessary to prevent further attacks of a  
similar nature. But the simple fact is that if the TSA was really this  
seriously worried about electronic devices, they could have banned  
them anytime since the attacks on September 11, 2001. Instead, they're  
doing it more than 8 years later after a man apparently lit some sort  
of mixture of powder and liquid in his lap. How that relates to  
electronics, I'm not sure. This just reeks of a "well, we have to do  
something" move.

Again, all the details aren't known yet, and it's entirely possible  
that this is just a temporary measure that will be in place during a  
heightened security time following the attempted attack. Other reports  
suggest this will only affect planes coming into the U.S. Of course,  
if you leave the U.S. to go on an international trip, you're very  
likely going to have to come back, so this will affect you.

So far, all the TSA is official saying is this:

Passengers flying from international locations to U.S. destinations  
may notice additional security measures in place. These measures are  
designed to be unpredictable, so passengers should not expect to see  
the same thing everywhere. Due to the busy holiday travel season, both  
domestic and international travelers should allot extra time for check- 
in."

Those other security measures apparently include not being allowed to  
get up in the final hour of a flight (so, no bathroom), being limited  
to one carry-on bag, and not being allowed to have anything on your  
lap in this final hour.

We'll update this post when the official policy becomes more clear,  
but given the previous policies of no liquids, taking off your shoes,  
etc, it wouldn't be entirely shocking for a no electronics rule of  
some sort to be commonplace. And it comes at a time when air travel  
was becoming almost becoming bearable thanks to WiFi on a growing  
number of flights (though domestic for now). Instead, it looks like  
we'll have to revert back to the old standards: Books, magazines, and  
newspapers for these flights. If I were the print media companies, I'd  
jack up the prices in airports immediately. They may have just found a  
business model that will save them: Fear.

I stand by my statement earlier: If they take electronics away from us  
on plane, I'd much prefer to be put into a state of hibernation on the  
flights like in Avatar. That's about the only thing that will make  
those cattle cars tolerable at that point.