Xref: utzoo rec.ham-radio:10832 sci.electronics:6193
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!mcdchg!ddsw1!corpane!sparks
From: sparks@corpane.UUCP (John Sparks)
Newsgroups: rec.ham-radio,sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Book review: "ANARC Guide to U.S. Monitoring Laws"
Message-ID: <632@corpane.UUCP>
Date: 12 May 89 18:50:55 GMT
References: <4481@ihuxz.ATT.COM>
Reply-To: sparks@corpane.UUCP (John Sparks)
Organization: Corpane Industries, Inc.
Lines: 32

In article <4481@ihuxz.ATT.COM> parnass@ihuxz.ATT.COM (Bob Parnass, AJ9S)
writes:
>x
>       BOOK REVIEW: ANARC GUIDE   TO U.S.   MONITORING LAWS
>
>              by   Bob Parnass, AJ9S
>
>   Do you as a monitoring hobbyist have     the right to receive
>   whatever  radio  signals  you want in the privacy of    your
>   own home?  No -- not any more.  So say the infamous Elec-
>   tronic  Communications  Privacy Act of 1986 and a growing
>   number of state laws which took away     this  freedom.  

I suspect the biggest culprit in ECPA-1986 is cellular phones.
By limiting our rights to listen to the airwaves, they make it illegal
to listen in on cellular phone calls. 

Once all the lawyers and politians (who LOVE cellular phones - nice status
symbol) got wind of the fact that cellular phones were actually radio, and that
it is legal to listen in on any radio broadcast, I bet they hurredly rushed
ECPA through. And they had the clout to do it too.

That's my theory anyway. Any facts out there? How close am I to the truth?
Should I have posted this to talk.rumors? Am I asking to many questions?

oops! Here come the scanner police... gotta go. bye.


-- 
John Sparks   |  {rutgers|uunet}!ukma!corpane!sparks | D.I.S.K. 24hrs 1200bps
[not for RHF] |          sparks@corpane.UUCP         | 502/968-5401 thru -5406 
If a town has one lawyer, he starves; if it has two lawyers, they both get rich