Communications Blackout

In the Coalition, some regulatory bodies such as Raven have the authority to instate a communications blackout in a certain area for strategic purposes against dangerous anomalies - especially against those that can sense electromagnetic radiation. During such a blackout, all civilian communications methods including wired and wireless networks are disabled, as well as most military networks; only Secure Limited Access (SLIA) networks are permitted to operate.

At the start of a blackout, a special, signed packet is sent across the Hexagon network to all terminal users. This triggers modems to enter a special transmit lockout state until either the timeout in the packet expires or they receive a signed "all clear" packet. This is legally mandated for all civilian and even most military radios, and intentionally modifying devices to disable the lockout is illegal, even though some hackers do it.