[comp.dcom.telecom] Recording calls

lgold@csib.UUCP (Lynn Gold) (10/23/87)

As long as ONE of the parties involved in the telephone conversation
knows that the call is being recorded, it's perfectly legal to record
the conversation.  In other words, if I feel like taping you, it's okay
because *I* know I'm taping you.

Re: playing someone's voice over the air -- THEN you MUST have either
verbal or written consent (the former is often done by taping someone
saying it's okay to use their voice over the air) in order to do so.

--Lynn Gold
Public Affairs Director
KFJC-FM

P.S.--We're in the middle of a fundraiser (yes, I KNOW this is going to
a nation-wide dist list).  If y'all feel inclined, call (415)941-2500
and pledge (they'd get a BIG kick out of someone from Massachusetts
calling in!).  :-)

jsol@BU-IT.BU.EDU (10/23/87)

The law in California is that one party must agree to have the conversation
taped; in other states it is that ALL parties of a conversation must agree.

It varies.

sgard@homxc.UUCP (S.GARDNER) (10/23/87)

In article <8710211927.AA27985@csib.CSI.COM>, lgold@csib.UUCP (Lynn Gold) writes:
> As long as ONE of the parties involved in the telephone conversation
> knows that the call is being recorded, it's perfectly legal to record
> the conversation.  In other words, if I feel like taping you, it's okay
> because *I* know I'm taping you.
>
  WRONG....
  Quoted directly from the New Jersey Bell Tel Book (under Consumer
  Responsibilities)
  Recorded calls require a beep tone.
  If you hear a short "beep" tone on your telephone about every
  15 seconds, it means that the that the person with whom you
  are talking is recording your conversation. Use of a recorder
   for recording 2 way conversations is permitted only when the
  recorder is connected physically to the telephone line through
  recorder-connector equipment which contains the "beep" tone.
  End quote
  
  The rest of the statement basically says that you can request the
  person not to record the call, which will be confirmed by the removal
  of the beep tone on the line. Also, certain emergency reporting systems
  that record the calls (police and fire depts) do not have to have
  the beep tone.
 
> Re: playing someone's voice over the air -- THEN you MUST have either
> verbal or written consent (the former is often done by taping someone
> saying it's okay to use their voice over the air) in order to do so.
>
  And you don't have to have the beep tone on that call. The FCC allows
  calls to be played live and/or recorded for playback without the beep
  tone. (The tone generator in the recorder-connector is disconnected).
  
> --Lynn Gold
> Public Affairs Director
> KFJC-FM

  Sanford Gardner
  AT&T Bell Labs
  ihnp4!homxc!sgard

clif@chinet.UUCP (Clif Flynt) (10/23/87)

  As an aside of sorts.  If you are recording the conversation because you
think you are being given the run-around by some shady outfit, that 15
second beep is very effective in putting the Fear-Of-Whatever into them.
  You may not get evidence of the malfeasance that you were suspecting
them of, but it's more likely that they will do what they tell you they'll
do this time.  The shady types seem less inclined to doubletalk when they
know it's being recorded.  (They probably think the recorder is an agent
of the Better Business Bureau, or the local Bunko Squad.)

-- 
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My Opinions are my own. I can't imagine why anyone else would want them.
Clif Flynt	ihnp4!chinet!clif
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