Scanning Legally - Whistler WS1095 Owner's Manual

SCANNING LEGALLY

Scanning Legally
Your scanner covers frequencies used by many
different groups including police and fire
departments, ambulance services, government
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 include:
• Telephone conversations (cellular, cordless, or other
means of private telephone signal transmission)
• Paging transmissions
• Any intentionally decoded scrambled or encrypted
transmissions
According to the Electronic Communications Privacy
Act (ECPA), you are subject to fines and possible
imprisonment for intentionally listening to, using, or
divulging the contents of such a transmission unless
you have the consent of a party to the communication
(unless such activity is otherwise illegal). This scanner
has been designed to prevent reception of illegal
transmissions. This is done to comply with the legal
requirement that scanners be manufactured so as to not
be easily modifiable to pick up those transmissions.
Do not open your scanner's case to make any
modifications that could allow it to pick up
transmissions that are illegal to monitor. Doing so
could subject you to legal penalties. We encourage
responsible, legal scanner use. In some areas, mobile
use of this scanner is unlawful or requires a permit.
Check the laws in your area. It is also illegal in many
areas to interfere with the duties of public safety
officials by traveling to the scene of an incident
without authorization.
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