rafaeld@teklabs.UUCP (Rafael De Arce) (09/10/85)
Their has been much talk on the net with regards to our "freedoms" to listen to radio transmissions and the legallity of this listening. I called the F.C.C. this afternoon and spent about a half hour speaking to them on this subject. I wanted to set the record straight in my mind as to what the law was on this matter. I must tell you frankly, that their are many people out their that are misinformed in this subject and I was one of them. First and foremost... listening to Common Carriers IS wire-tapping and illegal! It smacks a 10,000 dollar fine and five years. (Some states impose their own penalties on top of the federal penalties.) When and if you listen to a phone conversation transmitted on a common carrier band, it is tantamount to plug- ging into the cables between the conversing parties. By law, the line is se cure. Radar Detectors... The F.C.C. regards these as RECIEVERS and they are legal. States have the right to ban them. (That issue is somewhat mute and needs further definition.) They don't operate in the forbidden common carrier bands so the F.C.C. has no problem with them. For those that would like to read further on the subject, I was told to see sections 301 and 605 of the Communications Act of 1934. Title 18 was sug- gested reading as well. Anything outside of the common carrier bands is legal to listen to. Let's move on and drop this subject. Their's been too much attention paid to this subject on several nets. All it takes is a phone call to the proper agency and they can and will point you to the rules, regulations and the law.
djw@lanl.ARPA (09/12/85)
In article <3187@teklabs.UUCP> rafaeld@teklabs.UUCP (Rafael De Arce) writes: > >There has been much talk on the net about our "freedoms" to listen >to radio transmissions... > >First and foremost... listening to Common Carriers IS wire-tapping and illegal! I think I must be misunderstanding the discussion. You responded with the oft-quoted information that listening to "common-carrier" data is wiretapping. But this discussion was about listening in on satellite beams which were broadcast at you. The satellite issue has been addressed frequently by people with a lot more at stake than you or I; and the supreme court has ruled that people are entitled to listen in on the satellite broadcasts. Not only that; ( and this applies to your radar detectors as well; ) I am a licensed amateur operator and it is quite legal for me to transmit in those bands... What makes you think that it's illegal for me to receive my own transmissions? There are about five or six different understandings about what we've been talking about here. I originally got into this about the "loss of freedoms" discussion. I own a satellite receiver; as do several of my friends, and none of us were aware that anything had changed. From your comments about the FCC, I must conclude that nothing has; we're just talking about separate things. Dave Wade Los Alamos National Laboratories
gd@sri-spam (09/12/85)
> Anything outside of the common carrier bands is legal to listen to.
So what does the FCC include in their definition of a common carrier?
Satellite TV? Private "cable" TV using microwaves?
thanks for the definitive scoop,
Greg, WB6DEO