Santa Fe man demands half a mill for being near iPhone
Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 6:03 pm
Saw this story start in november, i didn't take it seriously, but its showing up more and more lately.
Apple a day evidently not keeping the doctor away
By Bill Ray • Get more from this author
Posted in Mobile, 11th January 2010 16:30 GMT
Arthur Firstenberg is suing his neighbour for $530,000 for refusing to switch off her iPhone, claiming that the electromagnetic fields generated are destroying his health.
Not only does Mr. Firstenberg want the iPhone switched off, but he also reckons that leaving the iPhone and a laptop charging overnight is denying him the sleep he so badly needs, according to the filing spotted by the Santa Fe Reporter. This is apparently why his half-million claim includes $100,000 for pain and suffering.
Mr. Firstenberg isn't new on the Campaigners-Against-Stuff circuit. We reported back in November 2008 how his Cellular Phone Task Force was campaigning to have the government pay for EMF-Free zones where fellow sufferers could hide out.
Since then, he's been trying to find some fellow sufferers and has been running advertisements asking people if the switch off of analogue TV has made them ill. Well, he's asking if the switch on of Digital TV is making them ill, but he waited until analogue was switched off to ask the question - apparently with some success, despite the ridicule of hardened conspiracy theorists.
Apparently, this time it's not just that the iPhone and laptop themselves that are causing problems. The filing alleges that shared wiring between the adjacent houses somehow transmits signals through the walls, "intensifying his exposure".
The Santa Fe Reporter has the filing in full, but we can't help feeling that people like Arthur Firstenberg just give everyone with irrational fears about new technology a bad name.
Wi-Fi phobes hijack disability legislation
We're disabled, really, we are!
By Bill Ray • Get more from this author
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The city of Santa Fe is being taken to task over a plan to deploy a Wi-Fi network on the ground they're unfairly discriminating against people who are allergic to electromagnetic waves.
The complaint is spearheaded by Arthur Firstenberg, and the Cellular Phone Task Force*, as reported by KOB-TV, and is based on the premise that putting up Wi-Fi equipment unfairly discriminates in breach of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Firstenberg would like to see Wi-Fi banned - in all public buildings, at least.
In fact Firstenberg would like to see a lot more than that, as outlined in his article on the subject entitled Killing Fields. He'd like government funding to pay for more attorneys and cover the cost of buying land for EMF-free sanctuaries.
City Councillor Ron Trujillo reckons the areas under contention are already awash with Wi-Fi signals, so any claim that the city's deployment will alter things is spurious:
"It's not 1692, it's 2008. Santa Fe needs to embrace this technology, it's not going away," Trujillo said. Clearly he's not a follower of General Ludd. ®
*No link to the group's web site, as it doesn't appear to have one. But then this, given Firstenberg's aversion to all things electric, should be obvious really.
What a twit, I can take him to a place where he'll go sterile in less then half an hour if he wants to legitimately complain.