10:20 AM At least 10 had already been confiscated yesterday

April 16, 2010

1 Min Read
iSrael Bans the iPad

10:20 AM -- Israel has banned Apple's iPad and is confiscating the devices at the airport, the Associated Press reports.

Customs officials said yesterday they had already confiscated 10 of the devices. Owners of the devices have the option either to pay a daily storage fee or to ship the device home at their own expense.

Why the ban? The FCC allows higher levels of WiFi broadcasting in the US than is allowed in Israel, and Israel's fear is that the iPad's stronger signal could disrupt its network. [Ed. note: OK, that sort of makes sense...]

"If you operate equipment in a frequency band which is different from the others that operate on that frequency band, then there will be interference," Nati Schubert, a senior deputy director for the Communications Ministry, told the AP. "We don't care where people buy their equipment... But without regulation, you would have chaos."

Israel issued a similar ban on the iPhone until last December for the same reasons.



— Erin Barker, Digital Content Reporter, Light Reading Cable

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