On 16 Dec 96 12:53pm, Bobbie Beers wrote to William Viets:
 -=>> Quoting William Viets to Bobbie Beers <=-
 BB> Hi Wm. of Done That, 
 WV>> Right you are, Bobbie!  Also, there is no exemption for news media
 WV>> types who go on the (broadcast radio and television) air routinely,
 WV>> dispensing information they received from guess what, heh-heh.
 WV>> Occasionally public safety radio traffic is rebroadcast,  sometimes
 WV>> live, during news blurps from on-scene incidents.  But that's another
 WV>> type of violation entirely, eh, what?
 BB> I have still not figured out how they justify those re-broadcasts.
 BB> Something to do with the peoples' right to know? The re-broadcasts that
 BB> really tear me up are the calls to 911. I keep wondering if they are
 BB> necessary, and why they aren't on the no-no list. Of course, they
 BB> aren't on scanners, but......
 While the law does forbid us to divulge what we hear, the law seems to be
 being interpreted to mean that there's no sense in prosecuting unless:
        a) Someone actually uses the infoo to harm someone, or
        b) Someone uses the infor heard to profit from it.
 So, since TV news departments, scanner pager nets, etc., do divulge the
 info, no one is harmed, and no one uses the info to make money.
 So, there's no prosecution.
 However, as I understand it, it's still illegal.
 In many areas, it's illegal to drive an automobile without a person in front
 waving a red flag. They don't prosecute that, either. ;-)
Bill Funk:  Internet:  skypilot@starlink.com
	    ASCIi User Group: http://www.starlink.com:80/~ascii
... Barney (Bar-Knee) n. 1) Well known purple mutant eggplant from Hell.
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