6
SCANNING LEGALLY
Your scanner covers frequencies used by many different
groups including police and fire departments, ambulance
services, government agencies, private companies, ama-
teur radio services, military operations, pager services,
and wireline (telephone and telegraph) service providers.
It is legal to listen to almost every transmission your scan-
ner can receive. However, there are some transmissions
you should never intentionally listen to. These include:
•
Telephone conversations (either cellular, cordless, or
other private means of telephone signal transmission)
•
Pager transmissions
•
Any scrambled or encrypted transmissions
According to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act
(ECPA), you are subject to fines and possible imprison-
ment for intentionally listening to, using, or divulging the
contents of such a transmission unless you have the con-
sent of a party to the communication (unless such activity
is otherwise illegal). We encourage responsible, legal
scanner use.
20-566.fm Page 6 Thursday, August 5, 1999 8:04 AM