Communication Act of 1934
“Except as authorized by chapter 119, title 18, no person receiving, assisting in receiving, transmitting,or assisting in transmitting, any interstate or foreign communication by wire or radio shall divulge orpublish the existence, contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning thereof, except through authorized channels of transmission or reception [...]”
Transmitters intercepted by the poster belong to a group of devices knownas “Part 15 devices.”
Part 15 devices consist of two general classes: “IncidentalRadiators” and “Intentional Radiators.” Incidental radiators include a vast number ofhousehold electronic devices such as computers, radio and television receivers,videotape recorders, telephone answering machines, light dimmers, and high-efficiency fluorescent light bulbs, etc. Intentional radiators in the home includecordless telephone handsets and base units, garage door opener controllers,wireless security system components, radio-frequency remote controls for homeentertainment equipment, and baby monitoring systems.
As for receiving the signal, the act is very straightforward:
§ 605. Unauthorized publication or use of communications
(a) Practices prohibitedExcept as authorized by chapter 119, title 18, no person receiving, assisting in receiving, transmitting, or assisting in transmitting, any interstate or foreign communication by wire or radio shall divulge or publish the existence, contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning thereof, except through authorized channels of transmission or reception,
(1) to any person other than the addressee, his agent, or attorney,
(2) to a person employed or authorized to forward such communication to its destination,
(3) to proper accounting or distributing officers of the various communicating centers over which the communication may be passed,
(4) to the master of a ship under whom he is serving,
(5) in response to a subpena issued by a court of competent jurisdiction, or
(6) on demand of other lawful authority.
No person not being authorized by the sender shall intercept any radio communication and divulge or publish the existence, contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning of such intercepted communication to any person.
No person not being entitled thereto shall receive or assist in receiving any interstate or foreign communication by radio and use such communication (or any information therein contained) for his ownbenefit or for the benefit of another not entitled thereto.
No person having received any intercepted radio communication or having become acquainted with the contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning of such communication (or any part thereof) knowing that such communication was intercepted, shall divulge or publish the existence, contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning of such communication (or any part thereof) or use such communication (or any information therein contained) for his own benefit or for the benefit of another not entitled thereto. [… ] --
Sec. 2511. Interception and disclosure of wire, oral, or
electronic communications prohibited
2a[ii] (d) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter for a person
not acting under color of law to intercept a wire, oral, or
electronic communication where such person is a party to the
communication or where one of the parties to the communication
has given prior consent to such interception unless such
communication is intercepted for the purpose of committing any
criminal or tortious act in violation of the Constitution or laws
of the United States or of any State.
And while you may feel that this section of the Act precludes civil and criminal penalty, your task is then to explain how prior consent can be given without knowledge of the interception? Not to mention the right and expectation of privacy.
