FCC to Investigate BART Cell Service Shutdown

PCMagazine: When Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) shut down cell service in its stations in order to prevent planned police protests, it may have have done more than anger the hacktivists of Anonymous–it may have broken the law. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has confirmed that it is investigating the incident. “Any time communications services are interrupted, we seek to assess the situation,” the agency said. “We are continuing to collect information about BART’s actions and will be taking steps to hear from stakeholders about the important issues those actions raised, including protecting public safety and ensuring the availability of communications networks.”

Civil liberties groups are saying that the decision was an attack on free speech. “BART is the first known government agency in the United States to block cell service in order to disrupt a political protest,” noted the ACLU.