Will cell phone jammers spread to North America?

(CNN) -- Devices that jam cell phone communications are legal in Japan, India and some European nations. Will Canada be the next country to allow them?

The country is considering a national proposal to allow the use in certain instances of cell phone jammers. Supporters of the technology say it prevents mobile callers from making a disturbance in designated public places and prevents them from secretly recording conversations in private business meetings.

But critics worry that jamming technology can do more harm than good.

ALSO Canada to consider licensing cell phone jammers    VIDEO CNN's Stephen Frazier interviews technology specialist Harris Miller regarding cell phone jammers Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

"Cell phones can be annoying. But imagine a doctor who is waiting for an emergency call or a parent who is waiting to hear from a babysitter, or an expectant father who is waiting to hear from his wife," said Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America.

"To be surreptitiously cut off because someone has installed a jammer is really a pretty scary idea," he said.

For more on the debate, watch Miller, who spoke to CNN on Thursday.

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Industry Canada
Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association
Radio Advisory Board of Canada

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