While the debate is still ablaze over whether cell phones actually cause damage to the brain and/or body, San Francisco recently lost patience and went ahead passing legislation requiring cell phone shops to display posters that warn customers of the potential risks their beloved cell phones may impose. Along with the posters, retailers would also be required to put warning stickers on window displays, as well as hand out fact sheets to customers.
But, in predictable fashion, the CTIA has filed a lawsuit opposing the ordinance (just like it so successfully did the last time San Fran tried to pass the bill). This time around, the judge seems to side more with the CTIA than the city, giving a firm “No” to the sticker and poster ideas, while revising the fact sheet with his own edits.
According to Judge William Alsup, “the overall impression left [by the fact sheet] is that cell phones are dangerous and that they have somehow escaped the regulatory process. That impression is untrue,” he wrote. Though all the facts are true, Judge Alsup still feels it’s necessary to make a couple changes, including the addition of a note about the FCC: “Although all cell phones sold in the United States must comply with RF safety limits set by the FCC, no safety study has ever ruled out the possibility of human harm from RF exposure.” The amended fact sheet must be given to each customer who purchases a phone.
As far as those posters and stickers go, Alsup definitely isn’t on board. With regards to the posters, he said they are “not reasonably necessary and would unduly intrude on the retailers’ wall space,” while the stickers would “unduly intrude upon the retailers’ own message,” reports MacWorld.