AWalker@RUTGERS.ARPA (08/24/84)
From: *Hobbit* <AWalker@RUTGERS.ARPA>
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... They hired college students to drive all over the bay area
looking for "suspicious" antennas, writing down the address, and sending
these people (~18,000) a letter
Is this legal??! I was always under the impression that it was legal to
receive any radio transmission [sometimes you couldn't help it!], but illegal
to *use* the information contained therein for personal gain or to harm
those for which the transmission was intended. Radar detectors are one
example; if the police shoot their signal at your car, you have every right
to receive it. Following this, it would seem that they would have to
*catch* the owners of said antennas actually watching HBO or whatever and
prove that they were using the signal for their own benefit. Just because
you have a suitable antenna on your roof doesn't mean you're using it to
defraud the pay-TV people.
The reason is that the grounds for the suit are based on section
605 of the Communications Act of 1934 which say it is illegal to
receive private communications without authorization. In 1982
president Reagan signed a bill which, among other things, exempted
radio amateurs from that (605) section of the act obstensibly to
enable amateurs to police their own bands.
Are the MDS bands within amateur jurisdiction? Are police bands [hearkening
back to the mobile-scanner issue]? Why should amateurs be exempt from any
such laws concerning bands that are not ''theirs'' to play with? If I twist
my AM radio way off the scale and hear someone's cordless phone, am I breaking
the law?
If I am all wet here, someone please inform me [without flaming mindlessly].
I think a list-wide clarification of the involved FCC laws would be in
order for those of us who don't have a stack of rule books at home.
_H*
-------mikey@trsvax.UUCP (09/04/84)
#R:sri-arpa:-1285300:trsvax:52800030:000:721 trsvax!mikey Sep 4 11:30:00 1984 Hams are allocated 2300-2450 mhz. The MDS channels are adjacent to this band and most of the pirate equipment is modified from HAM kits. Sidesteping the legal issue of the actual receiving of the MDS signals, should HAMs suffer (by harrasment or restricting equipment availability) because there MIGHT be unauthorized reception taking place. (I intentionally said unauthorized as opposed to illegal because it is STILL undetermined!!!) As for the individual who sent me mail about what information should or should not be posted, the mail went into the bit-bucket. Until the courts decide otherwise, if it comes through the air into my airspace, I feel that I can look at it for personal use. Mikey KA5MJQ