Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!utstat!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: nobody@nowhere.UUCP (this is a bogus address) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: The Hottest Answering Machine Message-ID: Date: 13 Nov 89 05:25:06 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Reply-To: emory!rsiatl!jgd (John G. De Armond) Organization: Radiation Systems, Inc. (a thinktank, motorcycle, car and gun works facility) Lines: 39 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 12 of 13 X-GATEWAY-WARNING: original 'From' address is not valid USENET syntax X-Originally-From: rsiatl!jgd (John G. De Armond) In article abh@pogo.camelot.cs.cmu. edu (Andrew Hastings) writes: >> As for the beep while recording a conversation, well, it may be >> annoying, but in the United States it is the law. >The laws governing the recording of a telephone conversation vary from >state to state. Some states require a beep. Some states require the >consent of both parties. Some states require the consent of only one >party. In ALL states, the use of recording devices is governed by part of the federal Communications Act. The act, as ammended in the late '70s states that at least one party to a conversation must be aware of the recording. That party can be you. In other words, you can record any conversation you are a party to with no beep or notification. You CANNOT record conversations between third parties (the traditional tap). Federal law will preempt any local regulations to the contrary. I know these laws firsthand. I used taped conversations between Tennessee, Georgia and Nu Joysey :-) to bust a thieving ex-partner. BTW, the rules of evidence in Tenn and Ga say that such recordings are heresay and as such cannot be submitted as direct evidence. IT can, however, be used as rebuttal evidence. In other words, if the scum lies on the stand, you can used recordings to prove he's lying but you cannot use them to prove a point not otherwise in evidence. The skill of a good trial lawyer is to lead the recorded person into saying something that lets the tapes in. It's also amazing how cooperative to negotiation the other side gets when you pop a box of cassettes down on the table. Makes the perp relive every conversation over the last year or so :-) Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer - I've just bought them by the dozen. John De Armond, WD4OQC | Manual? ... What manual ?!? Radiation Systems, Inc. Atlanta, GA | This is Unix, My son, You emory!rsiatl!jgd **I am the NRA** | just GOTTA Know!!!