6
SCANNING LEGALLY
Your scanner covers frequencies used by many different groups
including police and fire departments, ambulance services, gov-
ernment agencies, private companies, amateur radio services,
military operations, pager services, and wireline (telephone and
telegraph) service providers. It is legal to listen to almost every
transmission your scanner can receive. However, there are some
transmissions you should never intentionally listen to. These in-
clude:
•
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 imprisonment for intentional-
ly listening to, using, or divulging the contents of such a transmis-
sion unless you have the consent of a party to the communication
(unless such activity is otherwise illegal).
Radio Shack encourages responsible, legal scanner use.
20-561.fm Page 6 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 3:48 PM