Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!mcdchg!ddsw1!corpane!sparks
From: sparks@corpane.UUCP (John Sparks)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Computer Virus Hearings
Message-ID: <729@corpane.UUCP>
Date: 1 Jun 89 13:20:13 GMT
References: <154@oldcolo.UUCP> <4246@ficc.uu.net> <513@atlas.tegra.UUCP>
Organization: Corpane Industries Inc., Louisville, KY
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In article <11853@well.UUCP> dave@well.UUCP (Dave Hughes) writes:
>
>  As for cordless phones - pretty tough to 'include' them when
>they can be intercepted and there is no encrptian of the traffic.
>Which means it is public by definition. Anybody *accidentally* can
>intercept it. (which means, if they were included, the accidental
>interception would be illegal. *That* is pretty stupid.)
>Dave Hughes
>dave@oldcolo.uucp

But what you call "stupid" for cordless phones is exactly the way it is
now with cellular phones. There is no encription of the data and you can
intercept them easily. It is said to be legal to 'accidentally' intercept
cellular phones but strictly illegal to purposefully eavesdrop on them. 

So why aren't cordless phones included? eh? It's the same situation on a
different frequency and a shorter range. 

Personally I think if they don't want people listening in on phones they should
scramble the signal so you can't listen in. The burden should be on the phone
manufacturers and the phone company, not the public. If the radio waves come
into my house uninvited and unscrambled then I should have the right to listen
to them. Laws shouldn't be passed to make listening illegal. That's working
from the wrong end. It takes away from our freedom. 

I have no qualms about someone wanting to protect their information. But if
they are using radio, they should take precautions to encode the information to
keep it private, not make it illegal to listen. First, that doesn't stop anyone
who wants to listen from listening. It just lulls them into thinking that just
because it's illegal to listen in that no one will do it. The information is
still unscrambled and out there for anyone to listen to. 

The problem with the laws that regulate electronic information is that the
lawyers that write and pass the laws don't know anything about the technology
they are trying to regulate. They hear horror stories and watch late night sci-
fi thrillers about killer robots and computer conspiracy and decide that they
are going to save the world with new laws. But what they really end up doing is
limiting our freedoms. 


-- 
John Sparks   |  {rutgers|uunet}!ukma!corpane!sparks | D.I.S.K. 24hrs 1200bps
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Beware of quantum ducks: Quark, Quark.