[IP] more on Emergency text messages and AB 2231

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>
Date: April 1, 2006 11:24:01 AM EST
To: "(Mr) Lyn R Kennedy" <lrkn@earthlink.net>
Cc: David Farber <dave@farber.net>, lauren@vortex.com
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Emergency text messages and AB 2231


Unintended consequences can really get you with this one.  Cell phone
networks are often the first telecom technology to get overloaded (or
in some cases just fail completely) in an emergency.  Start sending
out text messages to everyone, and you're likely to trigger
thousands or millions of immediate call attempts by users trying
to reach family members, etc.  Boom -- saturation, and the really
important emergency calls don't get through.

Most people don't realize how limited cell phone capacity really is,
relatively.  Of course, the cell carriers don't exactly promote
their limitations.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com or lauren@pfir.org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, IOIC
   - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com




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