Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Free market is a good thing.


It's good until some unregulated electronic device creates interference that makes some poor guys pacemaker act up and kills them.


As a RF expert, I can assure you that is not possible. And basic common sense should tell you why.

It's AM radio that gets interfered with.


It's not likely, but if you're an expert I'm sure you could think of a few ways it would be possible. The reason we give people with pacemakers a list of machines to avoid is definitely not to waste their time because there is no possible way any of those things could be dangerous to them.


I mean, more or less, we do. The NIH list includes cell phones, e-cigarettes, and headphones.


As an RF expert I can assure you that I could create a device to wirelessly interfere with a pacemaker. A pathological one, maybe, but the point remains: regulation is needed.


The question is whether such interference could be created by a device as a by-product of its normal operation, not by a weapon that's intended to cause harm.


Blind dogma is rarely a good thing. A free market is not a virtue or end goal in itself, but a means to other ends.


Every freedom has limits




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: