Xref: utzoo rec.radio.amateur.misc:1162 rec.radio.shortwave:6587 sci.electronics:18965
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!emory!athena.cs.uga.edu!mcovingt
From: mcovingt@athena.cs.uga.edu (Michael A. Covington)
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc,rec.radio.shortwave,sci.electronics
Subject: Re: INPORTANT! HAMS, SWLS, SCANNER LISTENERS PLEASE READ!!!!
Summary: HOLD YOUR HORSES, it's almost certainly a false rumor
Message-ID: <1991Apr1.153137.1069@athena.cs.uga.edu>
Date: 1 Apr 91 15:31:37 GMT
References: <3@kb2ear.ampr.org> <11802.27f62f8b@zeus.unomaha.edu>
Distribution: usa
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens
Lines: 24

The FCC is "investigating scanners" all right, but for the purpose of
possibly *exempting* licensed hams from *local* laws that ban scanners
in cars. Or so the ARRL reports.

I don't think the FCC has the authority, under the Communications Act,
to ban any form of *reception*. And when the Electronic Communications
Privacy Act (ECPA) was passed in 1986 to ban cellular phone eavesdropping
and the like, FCC officials expressed doubts that it was technically
feasible, and declined to take on the job of enforcing it.

If it's for real, there will be a Notice of Proposed Rule Making and a formal
comment period.  Let's CONFIRM OUR FACTS before sending any letters to
Washington.

False rumors are very expensive for us, the taxpayers. The FCC still
receives thousands of letters per year about a rumored proposal to
ban religious broadcasting -- there never was any such proposal, but
"concerned citizens" keep spreading the word.  You and I have to pay the
cost of looking at the letters, hauling them out to the dump, etc.
-- 
-------------------------------------------------------
Michael A. Covington | Artificial Intelligence Programs
The University of Georgia  |  Athens, GA 30602   U.S.A.
-------------------------------------------------------