[Scan-DC] Phoenix to shield police radio traffic

[Joel Kahn]

I totally agree with you, Alan.  The whole encryption thing started when the 
smart phone apps started to get popular.  RR had the feeds in place for a long 
time before somebody realized they could link to it not only from the desktp, 
but from their phone, and then ZINGO! somebody started to get rich $0.99 at a 
time by creating an app to do the same thing.  A certain local Police Chief has 
said she had less of a problem with legitimate scanner enthusiasts than with 
criminals or terrorists who had throw-away smart phones.

The departments say it is because they would not get their Federal grants unless 
they insured against terrorist eavesdropping, so they get encrypted systems paid 
for by you and me, and we cannot even listen to them.

Most terrorist groups like the taliban have enough money that if they really 
wanted to listen to MPDC, they could buy a black market radio and get the talk 
groups and encryption key encoded. 
Joel 




________________________________
From: Alan Henney <alan at henney.com>
To: Rick Hansen <rick.hansen at apsglobal.com>
Cc: Scan DC <Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sat, March 16, 2013 2:41:23 AM
Subject: Re: [Scan-DC] Phoenix to shield police radio traffic


I suspect the big picture here is the 1st Amendment.  Telling people who and 
what they can listen to -- or repeat to others -- is a prior restraint. Those 
tow truck drivers might have been able to win if they took it to court, but 
those guys were stealing other driver's jobs, right?  Those are local laws.  In 
some cities that is how they conduct business -- monitoring scanners for wrecks.

If the awkwardly worded statutes in the Communications Act prohibiting 
"commercial gain" and divulging communication had broad legal implications, a 
prosecutor would have used it by now... especially against smart phone apps 
which I hold responsible for the rash of agencies encrypting.

In reading court discussions involving the Act, I think these restrictions were 
intended for employees of common carriers such as Verizon to protect customers 
-- not the general public who monitor readily accessible communication.

Alan

----- Original Message ----- From: "Rick Hansen" <rick.hansen at apsglobal.com>
To: "Alan Henney" <alan at henney.com>
Cc: "Scan DC" <Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, March 15, 2013 9:52 AM
Subject: Re: [Scan-DC] Phoenix to shield police radio traffic


Does anyone know if making commercial use of what you hear is still a crime? 
When I was young the tow truck drivers would get busted and fined for making 
commercial use of what they heard!

This comes down to lax enforcement and stupid news crews. And guess what, in 
many cases the media who caused the problem will be given radios later. Sigh...


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