Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!utstat!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: iiasa!wnp@relay.eu.net (wolf paul) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Beeps During Conversation Recording Message-ID: Date: 14 Nov 89 18:43:01 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Organization: IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria Lines: 38 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 509, message 1 of 13 X-GATEWAY-WARNING: original 'Date' value is not valid USENET syntax X-Original-Date: Mon, 13 Nov 89 9:46:01 MET DST langz@asylum.SF.CA.US (Lang Zerner) writes: > In article John Tsang uhcc.hawaii.edu> writes: > >[The only "drawbacks" to certain Panasonic answering machines is] > >the annoying beep during 2-Side-Conversation-Recording. > As for the beep while recording a conversation, well, it may be > annoying, but in the United States it is the law. And the moderator responds: > [Moderator's Note: I believe the law does not require the beep every > few seconds. It merely requires that both parties be *aware* of the > taping and consent to it. Therefore, if in the first few seconds of > the recording I say to you, "I am recording all this, is that okay > with you?" and you respond it is okay AND I have this consent itself > recorded at the start of the conversation, then the law has been > obeyed. The beeping every few seconds is of course one way to insure > the other person in theory knows about and has consented to be taped. > PT] But with the prevalent tort climate in the US, the only way the manufacturer of an answering machine/recording device can ensure that he will not be held liable for illicit recording is to supply this beep. Of course, in my opinion the manufacturer should not be liable for the illegal use a consumer may make of the product, but the courts in the US seem to be of a different opinion, as evidenced by a number of ridiculous decisions along these lines. Wolf N. Paul, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis Schloss Laxenburg, Schlossplatz 1, A - 2361 Laxenburg, Austria, Europe Phone: (Office) [43] (2236) 71521-465 (Home) [43] (1) 22-46-913 UUCP: uunet!mcvax!tuvie!iiasa!wnp DOMAIN: iiasa!wnp@tuvie.at