[geeks] interesting geek toy

[Kris Kirby]

On Thu, 28 Jun 2001, Bill Bradford wrote:
> However, they discontinued the service in
> '99.. but I'm wondering if I couldnt somehow
> use this to "sniff" the signal going over
> the pager frequencies...

Probability: High
Legatily: Low

Thanks to recent legislation (Telecommunications Act of 1996) which
undermines the normal legal precedent (Communications Act of 1934, IIRC),
promiscuous listening (e.g.: tcpdump) on radio frequencies is a crime now.
The cops are supposed to obtain wiretapping orders and whatnot before
listening to pager traffic; more often than not, they just get the pager
company to program them a duplicate pager with the same capcode.

The DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) also adds to this situation,
making it illegal to circumvent trival encoding / encryption schemes.

I support the original Act of 1934; methinks it's time to apply a good
sized LART to the Congress Critters.

-----
Kris Kirby, KE4AHR          | TGIFreeBSD... 'Nuff said.
<kris at nospam.catonic.net>   |
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"Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony."