Pakistanis question government's use of bans on cell phones,
other tech   A man talks on his mobile phone while delivering
supplies to a market in Gilgit, Pakistan. (Photo by Akhtar
Soomro/Reuters.))  New Year’s Eve was more low-key this year for
many in Pakistan.  Player utilities  In a place where millions
use small motorbikes for transportation, the country banned
carrying passengers, riding without a muffler and popping
wheelies.  But those were just one-night prohibitions. The
Pakistani government has implemented a host of bans recently,
many in the name of national security.  Especially egregious,
say critics, has been the occasional ban on cell phone use,
which they’ve done several times over the past year.  The first
time the government imposed a cell phone ban was in March. It
happened again in August.  Rehman Malik, Pakistan’s interior
minister, was matter-of-fact about it when he was announcing the
seventh cell phone ban of the year in November.  “I had no
option,” Malik said, “but to shut down mob