I need a way to hack my Samsung SGH e317 camera cellular phone to
disable the camera shutter sound. There is no option to turn it off,
and I find it very annoying, especially when taking a picture of my
son during his orchestra concerts.

Hmm...
I have no technical solution for that,but I guess if you'll go to the
service stop,and ask them to do that for you,or just to replace it
with another version of the phone - they might do that for you..

Try this out,I promise you it won't hurt you :)
Good luck

Where I am (Tokyo), the option to turn off the sound is not provided
to prevent (or at least alert other people) from taking pictures
"sneakily".  Without the sound, it would be really easy for someone to
pretend to be writing a message or playing a game while filming or
taking pictures of people.  This is especially true when in a crowded
subway train when a cellphone camera could easily be used to take
indecent photographs (ie upskirt or looking down a woman's blouse as
the woman is sitting and the 'photographer' is standing).  I don't
know what the subway system is like in other countries, but rush hour
in Tokyo is simply madness and all sorts of weird stuff can (and does)
happen.  Thus, turning off the sound is not an option (at least here).