[Scan-DC] RadioReference.com vs. Terre Haute

[gregory.guise]

I've been loosly  following this. It is an interesting issue. FCC rules that prohibit rebroadcasting of certain transmissions might come into play here although this is not a license to broadcast station. With regard to the First Amendment, I'm not sure exactly how far it can  be stretched in application in a case like this.
I am not certain I have ever seen a Court ruling or a policy statement implicitly saying that radio Transmissions of a police or fire department or for that matter any other public agency are in the public domain.
That said, with a court order......some such Transmissions have often been made available in legal cases.


Gregory Guise  202 487 5710Email is a powerful tool. Use it responsibly.
-------- Original message --------From: Alan Henney <alan at henney.com> Date: 12/30/16  02:51  (GMT-05:00) To: Scan DC <Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net> Subject: RadioReference.com vs. Terre Haute 






 
I remember a time when RadioReference removed DoD radio data simply when 
presented with a written request.  What changed since that time and why not 
allow a similar policy for public safety re-broadcasting?  The next step is 
either encryption or, God forbid, a disastrous court decision from a 
conservative court.  I am all for the First Amendment, but this is only 
going to antagonize the public safety officials.
 
Without the damn smart phones, chances are we “radio nerds” would be still 
monitoring MPD, among other agencies.
 
------
 
The Tribune-Star (Terre Haute, Indiana)
 
STATE AND REGIONAL NEWS
 
Terre Haute sends 'cease and desist' letter to emergency scanner 
broadcaster
 
Lisa Trigg, The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
December 29, 2016 Thursday
 
Dec. 29--Terre Haute police insist a Texas-based broadcaster of scanner 
traffic must stop airing its radio transmissions, but the broadcaster is 
balking, saying it may fight the city in court.
 
If the dispute does reach the courtroom, it might result in 
precedent-setting decisions, says one legal expert.
 
City Attorney Darrell "Eddie" Felling on Dec. 6 sent RadioReference.com LLC 
a letter asking that Terre Haute agencies "be removed from your broadcasting 
applications immediately."
 
"I understand for some, listing to public safety scanner traffic is a hobby 
that has been around for years," Felling wrote. "Recently, several of the city's 
police officers have reported that individuals listening to scanner feeds, like 
those broadcast by RadioReference.com and/or Broadcastify, have shown up to 
emergency incident scenes.
 
"Given the dangers our police officers face today, having our radio traffic 
broadcast in real-time has created a serious threat to officer safety, the 
security of incident scenes, and may hinder the officers ability to 
appropriately ascertain and respond to the emergency situation because listeners 
are at the scene as well," Felling wrote.
 
In his "cease and desist" letter, Felling asks RadioReference.com LLC to 
respond in order "to avoid potential legal action."
 
While Lindsay C. Blanton III, CEO of RadioReference.com/Broadcastify, has 
not returned calls from the Tribune-Star seeking comment, he did post a copy of 
Felling's letter on his website Dec. 13.
 
He wrote his company "will vigorously defend any legal action taken by the 
city of Terre Haute, Indiana. Any challenge by the city of Terre Haute would not 
survive even a lax standard of First Amendment scrutiny, as the widespread 
availability of these communications, often sanctioned by the public safety 
departments themselves, undermines any rational basis for prohibiting their 
broadcasts to the general public."
 
Police Chief John Plasse reiterated Thursday the request is "purely an 
officer safety issue."
 
Concern for officer safety grew after the intentional targeting and 
shooting of police officers in Dallas earlier this year, Plasse said.
 
Terre Haute officers responding to incidents around the city also began 
noticing some people showing up at the scenes and acting suspiciously, he 
said.
 
Plasse said his commanding officers made the request for radio broadcasts 
of THPD to be encrypted so the radio traffic cannot be heard by the general 
public using in-home scanners or devices with scanner apps, such as smart phones 
and tablets.
 
"We are trying to take care of our officers and keep them from harm," 
Plasse said.
 
He also pointed out that with today's smart phone technology and the 
digital scanner applications, it's possible for people committing crimes to 
monitor police radio traffic so they can avoid police officers dispatched to a 
crime in progress.
 
Indiana law, Plasse points out, prohibits the general public from having 
handheld police scanners for that reason. Now that smart phones and tablets can 
pickup scanner traffic, they have essentially become a hand-held scanner if used 
to monitor police communications, he added.
 
"In the past, mobile scanners have been illegal," Plasse said. "To me, the 
scanner app is the same thing. You can hear police being dispatched somewhere, 
so it defeats our efforts."
 
Plasse said he understands that for many years, people have sat at home 
monitoring police communications on their scanners, and for some people it is a 
hobby. Those people can still hear non-encrypted broadcasts, but not the "talk 
groups" that are encrypted.
 
Plasse said an initial request was not well-received by RadioReference.com, 
so the city attorney sent the cease and desist letter.
 
Jeffrey McCall, professor of communication at DePauw University, said it's 
uncertain how a First Amendment argument by RadioReference might play in 
court.
 
The "right to know" is inferred by media and citizens, McCall said, but is 
not stated in constitutional language.
 
In Indiana, Sunshine Laws make governmental meetings and actions open to 
public scrutiny, and the Access to Public Records Act makes documents available 
to the public. On a federal level, the Freedom of Information Act is the law 
designed to let the public stay in the know about their government.
 
But live transmissions of local police scanner traffic seem to fall outside 
those defined areas, McCall said.
 
The city is within its rights to raise the issue, and the internet service 
is within its rights to defend its actions, McCall said.
 
That could lead to a court case, and perhaps that's not a bad thing, McCall 
said.
 
"Sometimes, it's best to adjudicate these issues and let a judge decide, 
rather than have the agencies strong-arm their positions," he said.
 
However, he added, for a judge to rule against rebroadcast of public 
scanner traffic, McCall said it seems to him the city police would have to show 
that an immediate threat is present for each instance in which the broadcast 
would be restricted.
 
Lisa Trigg can be reached at 812-231-4254 or at lisa.trigg at tribstar.com 
Follow her on Twitter at TribStarLisa.
 
___ (c)2016 The Tribune-Star (Terre Haute, Ind.) Visit The Tribune-Star 
(Terre Haute, Ind.) at tribstar.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, 
LLC.