While the Federal Communications Act permit the reception of radio signals by scanners, shortwave radios, etc. - there are exceptions to that privilege in both federal and state laws. They typically fall into the following categories: It is illegal to listen in on cellular and cordless phone calls. It is illegal to intercept encrypted or scrambled communications. It is illegal for scanner manufacturers to sell or import radio scanners that are capable of receiving cellular phone frequencies. (Note: This rule does not apply to sales by individuals and radio scanners made before 1985). It is illegal to modify radio scanners so that cellular phone frequencies can be received. It is illegal to use information you hear for personal gain. A common example is where a taxi driver listens to a competitor's dispatch channel for fare pick-ups and then races over and picks-up the fares. It is illegal to use information you hear to aid in the commission of a crime. It is illegal to disclose information you hear to other persons. If you're really curious, here's a URL summarizing the laws on the subject matter: http://www.panix.com/~clay/scanning/rules.shtml Lyle KF6ZGI On Friday 04 March 2005 23:03, Eric Smith wrote: -- Lyle Bickley Bickley Consulting West Inc. http://bickleywest.com "Black holes are where God is dividing by zero"

Lyle wrote: All the exceptions you listed are part of Federal law. By what authority can a state make it illegal for me to receive a transmission which federal law allows? Eric

Eric Smith wrote: Yeah, what's the thinking behind that? I usually have a pretty comprehensive toolbox in the back of my car (I drive old Citroens, which need a lot of servicing, and I often get called upon to rescue my friend's BMWs and Mercs ("Hey, why not get a nice new reliable German car to replace that Citroen?" - "Well I'll ask you that next time I tow yours home..."). Centre punch, cordless drill, Citroen Special tool BFH-14 (Big, um, *Friendly* Hammer, 14lb), boltcutters, hacksaws, sockets, spanners, screwdrivers, that kind of stuff. If I was insane enough to move to New Jersey, I suspect the police would have a field day. Of course, their sniffer dogs may well be, erm... "adversely affected" by sniffing in the boot of the car - brake cleaner, carb cleaner, contact cleaner, screenwash, engine oil, gearbox oil, diff oil, suspension hydraulic oil, hydraulic flushing fluid and cleaning solvent might just be a tad overwhelming for the poor beast. Oh, and I think there's a pair of my old hiking socks there too. Gordon.

Hi, Jim Beacon said: They sell a version of these here (the UK), in car accesory shops, for breaking a car door window so you can extricate yourself from a crashed car. Definitely not illegal here :-) -- Cheers, Stan Barr stanb at dial.pipex.com The future was never like this!

On Sat, 05 Mar 2005 09:54:46 -0700 woodelf <bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> wrote: If the door is damaged this may not work any longer. And you can't play the crank trick on the front or back windows anyway. -- tsch??, Jochen Homepage: http://www.unixag-kl.fh-kl.de/~jkunz/

On Sat, 5 Mar 2005, Ram Meenakshisundaram wrote: I suppose rolling down the window won't work if a car is submerged? -- Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org [ Old computing resources for business || Buy/Sell/Trade Vintage Computers ] [ and academia at www.VintageTech.com || at http://marketplace.vintage.org ]