Is Your Speech Being Jammed?

What would you do if all of a sudden you weren't able to speak?

The savvy editors at the technology review blog at MIT identified a new technology that could very directly disrupt one's free speech rights. The device is a curious black box sitting on a trigger handle. When pointed at people and activated it can completely befuddle speakers, causing them to break down in a stuttering mess.

The actual paper by Kurihara and Tsukada introducing the device and research can be found here.

Here are a few links to other devices that could be used to squelch one's 1st Amendment rights.

• Cell phone disablers in cars, actively cutting communication above certain speeds. Discovery.com
• The Mosquito, a device emitting an annoying high-pitched sound to deter loiterers. New York Times