It appears that common courtesy can indeed be legislated. In early August, the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved by voice vote the "Halting Airplane Noise to Give Us Peace (HANG-UP) Act," a bill that will make permanent the current ban on cell phone use during flights within the United States.

Flying already has the appeal of a root canal or an IRS audit, and the widespread opinion is that constant cell phone chatter in such confined space will encourage the most discourteous of all travel-related activities. Earlier this year, the EU cleared the way for in-flight mobile phone use over European airspace.

With airline customer satisfaction at an all-time low, polls suggest that the overwhelming public doesn't want to be subjected to such an invasion of privacy. (One should remember that members of Congress are typically frequent flyers, with a personal vested interest in curbing yet another aggravation of today's tainted air travel experience).

Legislators are reminded that trying to legislate courtesy has never worked, but today's flyers respond with "never say never". The bill will now be considered by the full House.

If you are still determined to talk away at 30,000 feet, you might be tempted to carry your conversations over the Internet. Not so fast. Although Delta Air Lines, Continental Airlines and others have recently decided to equip aircraft with wireless Internet access, calls made using Internet connections will most likely be disallowed.

So what will these decisions do for in-flight etiquette? The conversation will certainly move from cell phone manners to a re-defining of Internet protocol while on an airplane. With the U.S. likely to keep the ban on the use of mobile phones in flight, what restrictions, if any, will be placed on Internet use? Calls over the Internet may be prohibited, but not for the same technical reasons as the current ban on cell phone use. An airline's difficulty with charging you extra for a service within a service might not be the reason either. Maybe such a restriction might be out of sheer courtesy to the next passenger. Maybe, we finally have found where the line is drawn – for now.

What do you think about the clash between technology and common courtesy? Do you support the decision by U.S. lawmakers or prefer the EU approval of mobile phone use in flight?