home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave
- Path: sparky!uunet!convex!constellation!osuunx.ucc.okstate.edu!datacomm.ucc.okstate.edu!martin
- From: martin@datacomm.ucc.okstate.edu (Martin McCormick)
- Subject: Re: wfla mystery
- Message-ID: <1993Jan1.113335.23330@osuunx.ucc.okstate.edu>
- Sender: news@osuunx.ucc.okstate.edu (USENET News System)
- Nntp-Posting-Host: datacomm.ucc.okstate.edu
- Organization: Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
- References: <1992Dec22.4230.11524@dosgate> <1992Dec22.175647.1@engvms.unl.edu>
- Distribution: rec
- Date: Fri, 1 Jan 1993 11:33:35 GMT
- Lines: 23
-
-
- This talk about WFLA brings a thought to mind. Just a few years ago, in what
- was called the Iron Curtain countries, some poor soul could become a
- criminal by just tuning his radio dial to the "wrong" station. Well,
- Communism fell. The jamming stopped, for the most part, and now, citizines
- of those countries can tune their radios to almost anything they please.
- The U.S. Congress, (best politicians money can buy), thought that
- it would be really neat to eradicate the problem of electronic snooping
- on mobile telephones by spreading ink on paper rather than providing for
- encoding of the signal. The broadcasters bought a few drinks or Lord knows
- what for the right folks and broadcast remote pickups were also included
- in the Electronic Communications Privacy act.
- The bottom line, here, is to be careful. If you don't want to be
- carted off to jail and become a real live criminal, you will have to
- report any remote broadcast DX from one of the freeer countries in the
- world. The ECPA, in its present form represents a truly dark chapter in
- American law since it unknowingly makes criminals out of almost anybody with
- a general coverage receiver. So what if it hasn't really been inforced;
- it is there just waiting to trip somebody up. It is the legal equivalent of
- a fraid electrical cord or missing stop sign.
-
- Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK
- O.S.U. Computer Center Data Communications Group
-