PS3 banned from British prisons

by Nick Doerr { Mar 29th 2007 at 3:00PM }

Keystone Light -- the lager of the poor college student. Random comment aside, I realize that there is a possible segue way to the news at hand. If you drink underage, you may get incarcerated and spend a little time in jail. If you love your PS3, you won't do that... because PS3's are banned from jails. In Britain. How did that work? Less than optimal? Whatever, let's get on with it.

Home Secretary John Reid thought that allowing PS3's in prison could be dangerous, as they may "send and receive radio signals" across the country, thanks to the WiFi and PSP connectivity. To officially quote Reid on the subject: "Advice was issued to all prisons in December 2005 that the Sony PlayStation 3 was barred from the prison estate because of the equipment's ability to send and receive radio signals." So they definitely hit this one before it even became a problem. Does this upset anyone? Or would sitting around playing PS3 all day be too good for those who made mistakes?

Tags: PlayStation 3, Playstation3, PS3, Sony

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Colin @ Mar 29th 2007 3:05PM

Gawd I would hope that they don't get Next Gen (or last gen) video consoles in jail....

nofanboy @ Mar 29th 2007 3:09PM

This is a joke, right? Are we talking about prision or vacation? Why should these felons be playing video games at all - I see a lot of trash on the highway and a lot of municipal building that need work. I would make those people do landscaping of municipal grounds (like a golf course) in Florida in July. Most people that deserve a PS3 can't afford one. Prisoners should get a piece of bread and glass of water and work.

seedaripper @ Mar 29th 2007 3:10PM

ahhh...officially 5 hours behind us in the UK....
(im sure im due to goto prison,but i want to play my PS3 goddammit!)
good ol' FUD

stockstar1138 @ Mar 29th 2007 3:18PM

well, considering these people are more likely to make mistakes in life, they probably have 360s or Wiis.

SKI @ Mar 29th 2007 3:47PM

It's an excuse so they don't have to pay.

Van @ Mar 29th 2007 3:48PM

Thats the real reason why MS didn't include WiFi in the new "elite"

Jason B. @ Mar 29th 2007 4:18PM

The 20GB version can't send or received radio signals.

Andir3.0 @ Mar 29th 2007 4:23PM

not to be technical, but Bluetooth is radio.

Mike @ Mar 29th 2007 5:45PM

Yes, technically, bluetooth uses radio frequencies.... with a radius of about thirty feet.

While I agree that felons shouldn't be playing PS3, it frightens me how ignorant people in power are of technology. The world is moving forward, and it often seems the people in power across the globe are dangerously ignorant of the tech that's shaping our lives more and more every day.