A person in southwest France who by chance blocked cellphone sign and web connection throughout two communes in a bid to cease his youngsters from going surfing now dangers six months in jail and a high quality of €30,000.

A father dwelling in Messanges (Landes, Nouvelle-Aquitaine), is accused of blocking the web entry and cell phone sign of his total neighbourhood throughout two communes, for a number of nights, after putting in a “band wave jammer” – a tool that blocks out cell phone and web communications. 

The person had solely meant to cease his personal youngsters from going surfing at night time, and reportedly didn’t realise that the gadget would work throughout such a big radius.

The supply of the issue was recognized after an engineer from nationwide frequency company l’Agence nationale des fréquences (ANFR) was referred to as to Messanges between midnight and 03:00 one night, as one of many cell phone antennas had stopped working.

The engineer visited in a automobile designed to determine such issues; it had a conveyable receiver on the roof, which is designed to detect hostile waves. He additionally walked round on foot utilizing an identical gadget, and managed to determine a property that gave the impression to be the supply of the difficulty.

When questioned, the house owner instantly admitted to utilizing a jammer, and mentioned he had purchased the gadget to cease his youngsters from utilizing social media or the web at night time, saying that they have been addicted.

Each night time, he plugged within the jammer, intending to dam communications to his residence solely. But, because the ANFR explains on its web site, these gadgets can have “a a lot wider radius than we expect, or the sellers usually counsel”.

The usage of these gadgets is strictly unlawful in France, and is punishable by as much as six months in jail and a high quality of €30,000. 

The person in query is now dealing with mentioned sanctions, after the general public prosecutor in Dax opened an investigation and requested for gendarmerie help from Landes.

The daddy has additionally been required to pay a €450 charge to cowl the ANFR investigation.

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