Captain O,
You say:
Contact during Standby- No prohibition of mobile phones. You just need to answer them. "Unacceptable curtailment of freedom", "house arrest" bit of a flair for the dramatic don't you think? Your on "standby", different airlines operate it differently.
Our new instructions for stby are that we must contact a crew controller BEFORE leaving our residence (place of rest). So, any trip to the store should be preceeded by a call to get permission. It doesn't say that we just need to be contactable by cell phone or to be in the local area. What if the crew controller, says "no" you can't leave your home? What's next? Can't take a crap? This is extreme, if you comply with the directive.