Monday, June 27, 2011
Florida Law Enforcement Deputy Misuses Department Radio System, Boss Approves?
Ok, so this was original and cute. If any of the Shortwave America readers are Law Enforcement professionals, you can see the danger in using the county wide radio system to do something like this. Both the officers in the field and the callers using 911 depend on this system for life threatening emergencies.
Obviously, the Officer's supervisor is just fine with this type of system use and that is VERY troubling, and if you don't find it troubling, you should! Law enforcement by its very nature means that anything can happen at anytime, anywhere! What IF there would have been an emergency at that time? The air would not have been available for an emergency transmission! An officer or 911 caller could have been put in danger!
The department doesn't see the abuse of the communications system in this case, and that is another troubling issue! See Law Officer for the original story and then see the Miami Herald.
Any other department would have initiated an investigation with expectations of handing down discipline...at least a few days off! Should Florida taxpayers expect such a trivial use of their Sheriff's emergency radio system? Shortwave America will search on-line archives for the complete radio transmissions and see about getting them here. Until then, the media recording should be enough to satisfy the point made.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Southwest Airlines Pilot With A Foul Mouth, Sick Attitude Caught On Radio
A Southwest Airlines pilot was suspended from work after he made crude remarks about his flight crew members over the air traffic control radio system. The pilot's radio mic became stuck in transmit, causing his insensitive remarks to be transmitted all over a Texas Air Traffic Control (ATC) frequency.
ABC News has the audio from the incident, although it is censored for foul language. Readers and listeners please use caution, as this pilot's remarks are highly inflammatory.
No date of occurrence was given, and the pilot was not identified. If anyone reading here is also a user of ATC.net, would you please check the audio archives and report back here as a favor? Thanks!
ABC News has the audio from the incident, although it is censored for foul language. Readers and listeners please use caution, as this pilot's remarks are highly inflammatory.
No date of occurrence was given, and the pilot was not identified. If anyone reading here is also a user of ATC.net, would you please check the audio archives and report back here as a favor? Thanks!
New York Joins States Passing Pirate Radio Legislation
The New York State Assembly passed legislation recently that was usually a Federal only jurisdiction. This legislation targets pirate radio operators and provides that such operation is a class "A" misdemeanor with the absurd claim that major stations are being drowned out by pirates regularly.
The MAJORITY of pirate broadcasts are on the HF bands, not local FM and AM frequencies! States like New York, Florida, etc. are so close to the Atlantic ocean, a wide open space that often provides natural "E" propagation and may not always be due to illegal in-land broadcasters. Suspiciously, the FCC has not chimed in on this and none of the news articles gives any information about how many of these "interference" cases have been determined to come from in-land broadcasters.
This is not to say that in-land pirate stations don't sometimes drift off frequency due to operator error, or that operators aren't sometimes being malicious. The concern here is that these laws duplicate federal laws already on the books and allow states to regulate a federal set of laws. Can these laws be used as precedents to eventually put licensed amateur operators and licensed broadcasters under the jurisdiction of the state? Can these laws set precedent for new manipulations that would affect properly licensed stations and operators?
How far are the states planning in going in radio regulation before the FCC no longer has any jurisdiction and before FCC pre-emptions no longer valid? We are in the slippery slope everyone!
The MAJORITY of pirate broadcasts are on the HF bands, not local FM and AM frequencies! States like New York, Florida, etc. are so close to the Atlantic ocean, a wide open space that often provides natural "E" propagation and may not always be due to illegal in-land broadcasters. Suspiciously, the FCC has not chimed in on this and none of the news articles gives any information about how many of these "interference" cases have been determined to come from in-land broadcasters.
This is not to say that in-land pirate stations don't sometimes drift off frequency due to operator error, or that operators aren't sometimes being malicious. The concern here is that these laws duplicate federal laws already on the books and allow states to regulate a federal set of laws. Can these laws be used as precedents to eventually put licensed amateur operators and licensed broadcasters under the jurisdiction of the state? Can these laws set precedent for new manipulations that would affect properly licensed stations and operators?
How far are the states planning in going in radio regulation before the FCC no longer has any jurisdiction and before FCC pre-emptions no longer valid? We are in the slippery slope everyone!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Shortwave America Brings New Ideas
In the effort to keep this publication as an expanding entity in radio communications, from time to time, new ideas come to mind. Some new ideas here are to add postings of some of the more popular and nostalgic radio classics from the golden years of radio, audio montages from the shacks of our readers that fall into the categories of the more humorous & strange moments you have managed to record while listening. Stories of things you have run across while spinning the VFO through the bands (HF through SHF) are another idea.
With this being presented to our audience, we would love to hear what you think of adding features such as this and invite you to post your thoughts in the comments section of this piece. If anyone wishes to submit anything as described above, please contact Shortwave America via e-mail.
With this being presented to our audience, we would love to hear what you think of adding features such as this and invite you to post your thoughts in the comments section of this piece. If anyone wishes to submit anything as described above, please contact Shortwave America via e-mail.
Solar Cycle 24 Shutting Down
Quote from this article: "According to three studies released in the United States on Tuesday, experts believe the familiar sunspot cycle may be shutting down and heading toward a pattern of inactivity unseen since the 17th century."
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Songs Featuring Radio
At various amateur radio & shortwave listening internet forums, one topic of discussion invariably turns to movies, tv shows, and other productions featuring radio. Shortwave America wanted to present at least a short list of songs that feature radio in some way.
This first song was written & released in the 1980s by an artist named, Sting. "Russians" was basically the story of the cold war, a missile crisis during which a nuclear holocaust was indeed a high possibility. From Wikipedia, and under creative commons license: Sting is quoted as saying In his 2010 interview with World Entertainment News Network, Sting admitted that "the song was inspired by watching the Soviet TV via satellite: I had a friend at university who invented a way to steal the satellite signal from Russian TV. We'd have a few beers and climb this tiny staircase to watch Russian television... At that time of night we'd only get children's Russian television, like their 'Sesame Street'. I was impressed with the care and attention they gave to their children's programs. I regret our current enemies haven't got the same ethics"[4] Creative Commons Share Alike License
In the beginning of this work, you'll hear overlapped radio transmissions in Russian.
This second song is actually a comedy work, and is actually is parody of the SETI program called "Alien Makes Contact - The S.E.T.I. Song" featuring Billy Reid.
Our third song is from StopSocialismUSA and is said to be posted at KB7TBT's website. The song is the MOrse Code alphabet set to music and very simple lyrics. No name of an original artist or band is available, but enjoy anyway!
Fourth up is the ever beloved "Ham Band" Information from YouTube says the following: The Ham Band is a group consisting of Andrew (G3WZZ/OZ1XJ/OZ5E), his wife Lissa and a group of Nashville session musicians. All the songs are about amateur radio and the booklet which comes with the "Seek You" CD tells the whole story of contests, dx-peditions, antennas etc.
The Ham Band has just finished their new song/video which describes the whole process of building a modern amateur radio station and at the same time enables the listener/viewer to learn Morse code - yes all the letters and numbers are in there! The video lasts about 20 minutes and there are 19 musicians playing in three different musical styles (French Musette, Viennese Waltz and German Oompah). The music changes key 24 times which means that this musical work may get into the Guinness Book of World Records!
You can view the first quarter (about 5 minutes) of the video for free at www.hamband.com
Weird Al gave us "UHF" back in the 80s!
Can you think of other songs that feature radio? One other artist back in the 80s who created a hit that spoke about radio was "Tiffany" with her song, "Radio Romance" In the 70s, Donna Summer gave us her hit, called "On The Radio".
Perhaps the most famous song of all time will always be Steve Carlisle's "WKRP"
Thanks for reading today! Shortwave America hopes you enjoyed these videos, and we hope you'll let us know of any other interesting musical works that feature radio.
This first song was written & released in the 1980s by an artist named, Sting. "Russians" was basically the story of the cold war, a missile crisis during which a nuclear holocaust was indeed a high possibility. From Wikipedia, and under creative commons license: Sting is quoted as saying In his 2010 interview with World Entertainment News Network, Sting admitted that "the song was inspired by watching the Soviet TV via satellite: I had a friend at university who invented a way to steal the satellite signal from Russian TV. We'd have a few beers and climb this tiny staircase to watch Russian television... At that time of night we'd only get children's Russian television, like their 'Sesame Street'. I was impressed with the care and attention they gave to their children's programs. I regret our current enemies haven't got the same ethics"[4] Creative Commons Share Alike License
In the beginning of this work, you'll hear overlapped radio transmissions in Russian.
This second song is actually a comedy work, and is actually is parody of the SETI program called "Alien Makes Contact - The S.E.T.I. Song" featuring Billy Reid.
Our third song is from StopSocialismUSA and is said to be posted at KB7TBT's website. The song is the MOrse Code alphabet set to music and very simple lyrics. No name of an original artist or band is available, but enjoy anyway!
Fourth up is the ever beloved "Ham Band" Information from YouTube says the following: The Ham Band is a group consisting of Andrew (G3WZZ/OZ1XJ/OZ5E), his wife Lissa and a group of Nashville session musicians. All the songs are about amateur radio and the booklet which comes with the "Seek You" CD tells the whole story of contests, dx-peditions, antennas etc.
The Ham Band has just finished their new song/video which describes the whole process of building a modern amateur radio station and at the same time enables the listener/viewer to learn Morse code - yes all the letters and numbers are in there! The video lasts about 20 minutes and there are 19 musicians playing in three different musical styles (French Musette, Viennese Waltz and German Oompah). The music changes key 24 times which means that this musical work may get into the Guinness Book of World Records!
You can view the first quarter (about 5 minutes) of the video for free at www.hamband.com
Weird Al gave us "UHF" back in the 80s!
Can you think of other songs that feature radio? One other artist back in the 80s who created a hit that spoke about radio was "Tiffany" with her song, "Radio Romance" In the 70s, Donna Summer gave us her hit, called "On The Radio".
Perhaps the most famous song of all time will always be Steve Carlisle's "WKRP"
Thanks for reading today! Shortwave America hopes you enjoyed these videos, and we hope you'll let us know of any other interesting musical works that feature radio.
Media Network Plus Review Tecsun DR920 and more
In this edition of the Media Network Plus review we take a look at the Tecsun DR920. We also pay a visit to Radio For Peace International. Special thanks goes to Jonathan Marks at Critical Distance for this edition.
Friday, June 10, 2011
1978 film on Happy Station's 50th Anniversary
The other day Tom came across a film made by the RN TV department in 1978 on the 50th anniversary of Happy Station. This film is a rare look at the 9 hour special Happy Station Show broadcast that day.
QSL Cards From Shortwave DX Blog
Shortwave America presents to our audience, four new QSL cards on display at the Shortwave DX Blog.First, the "Hit - Mixteam" stating to operate on 43 and 52 Meters. Second, a card from Pirate Radio Malta. Third, Radio Star International. Fourth up is Radio Iceman Shortwave. Enjoy everyone! You can find the link to the Shortwave DX Blog to the right of this publication and just scroll down a bit.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Remembering June 4th 1989
A commentary about the 22nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square now available from PCJ. It also include a well known broadcast from Radio Beijing.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Shortwave America Presents: Encouragement For Dissent In China
China has once again decided to enact what can only be described as archaic censorship using the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre as a piss poor excuse. Shortwave America has no political loyalties and takes pride in being a free publication in regards to this sort of thing. In keeping with that spirit, Shortwave America publicly denounces China as a place for any human being to live or even visit.
Continuing on, Shortwave America HIGHLY ENCOURAGES Chinese citizens to stand together against their oppressive, anti-democracy government. China does not care about you, your rights, your ability to be a human being and surely doesn't care about your basic human right to live as a free people. The fact is that there are more people than there are members of the Chinese military forces, and an uprising would be good. THIS is YOUR time, Chinese citizens! You can stand by and do nothing while continuing to live under the Red hand of communism or force change to bring about total freedom.
What the Chinese Government never understood is that the traditions and beauty of China can still be preserved while allowing its people to be free. This piece will undoubtedly get this publication banned in China if it hasn't been banned already, but there are ways around that. This publication is based out of the U.S. and so China can't touch any of us! The respect of any government anywhere in the world MUST be EARNED, not demanded by inhumane practices.
If anything, the communist practices of China's government must be treated with total contempt. If anything, China's leaders are all equal to nothing more than animal waste! There's a whole lotta garbage that the Chinese leaders hide behind, the list is endless. This publication has no choice but to encourage possible tourists to decide against going to China, and to encourage people not to buy Chinese products that would generate revenue for China.
Perhaps there are people out here who would care enough to write piles of sharply worded letters to the Chinese government condemning their practices and public policies. Shortwave America urges the broadcast industry not to do business with China and maybe it isn't a bad idea that Chinese transmitter sites face severe interference.
China wants a communications war, fine! They'll lose in a most embarrassing way! Encouraging and enabling dissent in China until their people are free is not a bad effort to be behind!
Continuing on, Shortwave America HIGHLY ENCOURAGES Chinese citizens to stand together against their oppressive, anti-democracy government. China does not care about you, your rights, your ability to be a human being and surely doesn't care about your basic human right to live as a free people. The fact is that there are more people than there are members of the Chinese military forces, and an uprising would be good. THIS is YOUR time, Chinese citizens! You can stand by and do nothing while continuing to live under the Red hand of communism or force change to bring about total freedom.
What the Chinese Government never understood is that the traditions and beauty of China can still be preserved while allowing its people to be free. This piece will undoubtedly get this publication banned in China if it hasn't been banned already, but there are ways around that. This publication is based out of the U.S. and so China can't touch any of us! The respect of any government anywhere in the world MUST be EARNED, not demanded by inhumane practices.
If anything, the communist practices of China's government must be treated with total contempt. If anything, China's leaders are all equal to nothing more than animal waste! There's a whole lotta garbage that the Chinese leaders hide behind, the list is endless. This publication has no choice but to encourage possible tourists to decide against going to China, and to encourage people not to buy Chinese products that would generate revenue for China.
Perhaps there are people out here who would care enough to write piles of sharply worded letters to the Chinese government condemning their practices and public policies. Shortwave America urges the broadcast industry not to do business with China and maybe it isn't a bad idea that Chinese transmitter sites face severe interference.
China wants a communications war, fine! They'll lose in a most embarrassing way! Encouraging and enabling dissent in China until their people are free is not a bad effort to be behind!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Radio Netherlands & Deutsche Welle Join Forces
Maybe we'll see improved Shortwave Broadcast and maybe even a renewed interest in putting new programming on the shortwave bands along with an eye towards preserving the medium.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Free Radio Cafe' HF Frequency Breakdown
John Poet at the Free Radio Cafe has put together a great worldwide radio frequency reference.
Frequency breakdown is as follows:
153 to 279 kHz
279 to 530 kHz
530 to 1600 kHz
1600 to 1710 kHz
1710 to 1800 kHz
1800 to 2000 kHz
2000 to 2300 kHz
2300 to 2495 kHz
2498 to 2850 kHz
2850 to 3155 kHz
3150 to 3200 kHz
3200 to 3400 kHz
3400 to 3500 kHz
3500 to 3800 kHz
3800 to 3950 kHz
3950 to 4000 kHz
4000 to 4063 kHz
4063 to 4438 kHz
4438 to 4650 kHz
4650 to 4750 kHz
4750 to 5060 kHz
5060 to 5450 kHz
5450 to 5730 kHz
5730 to 5950 kHz
5950 to 6295 kHz
6295 to 6525 kHz
6525 to 6765 kHz
6765 to 7000 kHz
7000 to 7100 kHz
7100 to 7350 kHz
7350 to 8195 kHz
8195 to 8815 kHz
8815 to 9040 kHz
9040 to 9400 kHz
9400 to 9900 kHz
9900 to 9995 kHz
9995 to 10005 kHz
10005 to 10100 kHz
10100 to 10150 kHz
10150 to 11170 kHz
11170 to 11400 kHz
11400 to 11650 kHz
11600 to 12100 kHz
12100 to 12330 kHz
12330 to 13200 kHz
13200 to 13360 kHz
13360 to 13570 kHz
13570 to 13870 kHz
13870 to 14000 kHz
14000 to 14350 kHz
14350 to 14490 kHz
14990 to 15010 kHz
15010 to 15100 kHz
15100 to 15800 kHz
15800 to 16460 kHz
16460 to 17360 kHz
17360 to 17480 kHz
17480 to 17900 kHz
17900 to 18030 kHz
18030 to 18068 kHz
18068 to 18168 kHz
18168 to 18900 kHz
18900 to 19020 kHz
19020 to 19990 kHz
19990 to 20010 kHz
20010 to 21000 kHz
21000 to 21450 kHz
21450 to 21850 kHz
21850 to 21870 kHz
21870 to 22000 kHz
22000 to 22855 kHz
22855 to 23200 kHz
23200 to 23350 kHz
23350 to 24890 kHz
24890 to 24990 kHz
24990 to 25010 kHz
25010 to 25550 kHz
25550 to 25670 kHz
25670 to 26100 kHz
26100 to 26965 kHz
26965 to 27405 Khz
27405 to 28000 kHz
28000 to 29700 kHz
29700 to 30000 kHz
Friday, May 27, 2011
Cell Phone Scanner Apps May Violate Laws Of All 50 States: Police, Prosecutors Making Cases
Even before most of us were born there has been something of a nervous reaction to someone in possession of a radio. There is just something about even your everyday AM/FM radio that causes people to question the ownership of such a device. Since technology has developed over the decades, places like Radio Shack have sold wide range radio receivers that receive frequencies from 30Khz to 1300Mhz.
Today, we have places such as AES, HRO, Scanner Master, Universal Radio, etc. where radio equipment and software can easily be bought for anyone's use.
Now, even though the United States Federal Communications Privacy Act makes it completely legal to purchase, own, and use a radio receiver that receives AM, FM, ELF (extremely low frequency). HF (high frequency), LF (low frequency), VHF, UHF, EHF and SHF frequencies that are NOT encrypted; the police and prosecutors in all 50 states are crying foul. FCC Opinion & Order PR91-36 exempts Licensed Amateur Radio Operators from local, state level, and federal level restrictions, however, police and prosecutors usually do not know about this piece of law.
The problem with the U.S. Communications Privacy Act is that it is not really clear as to whether or not it overrides or even enjoins the individual states from restricting the purchase, possession, or use of radio receivers of any sort.
In this day and age of advanced technology the definition of what constitutes a prohibited radio receiver under some state's laws has come under question and scrutiny. In the first link below, we find that police and prosecutors are now taking a hard nosed approach towards cell phones with installed software applications that link such phone to internet connected, streaming radio receivers that stream public safety radio traffic to the end user.
Police, Prosecutors Weigh In On Legality Of Cellular Phone Scanner Apps
This link below at Radio Reference takes us to an incident in which a robbery offender was arrested in Indiana and charged with possession of a radio receiver because he had a cell phone app installed and it was discovered that the offender may have used it in the commission of his crime. The disussion focuses on whether or not the cell phone with the app installed meets Indiana's definition of a prohibited radio receiver not for use in a person's home and the technical definition of a radio receiver in context of what Indiana's law states. You'll see that there are differing opinions.
State Of Indiana Looks To Charge Robbery Offender With Illegal Possession Of Police Radio Reception Device
The scary part of these police and prosecutors taking the stance they take is that they are intent on using "Obstruction Of Justice" charges if and when the state law of any state is silent on radio receivers. What's even more scarier is that if they lose their case on the technical definition of what a radio receiver is, they want to use the obstruction charge in its place if and when they get someone who has either a cell phone with an app installed or in actual possession of a radio receiver.
A question now exists about if a person can be charged with obstruction simply for possession of a cell phone with a streaming public safety radio receiver application installed or in actual possession of a radio receiver even IF they did not use such in furtherance of a crime in any given state. Another question now exists in the eyes of police and prosecutors about using this law to circumnavigate PR91-36.
Shortwave America will be speaking with police and prosecutors in as many states as possible to ascertain each state's position on the possession and use of radio receivers, and whether or not they think law abiding persons who simply want to have use of such to keep themselves and their families safe should be arrested and if they really want the courts to get involved. The ARRL will also be sought for their opinion.
The issue here for law abiding citizens and licensed radio amateurs is one in which they should indeed have such a right to listen in to a system that is not encrypted for their own safety, it DOES help the safety minded and police or other emergency responders in that people will be warned by such radio traffic to stay away from these scenes and the affected areas...it actually helps responders when people know to stay clear instead of innocently wandering in to or driving into an affected emergency response area.
One area of civil liberties that needs to be examined is this attitude (even if it is a farce for political purposes and political public image) that everyone is a criminal until proven otherwise, and that every is guilty until proven innocent simply because of the mentality that anyone can do anything at anytime at any place.....the old "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, did it really make a sound?" approach.
What police, prosecutors, and the courts don't realize is that if they operate this way, they create distrust between themselves and the communities they serve and inherently violate the rights of the masses based on unfounded paranoia. This is a fact, not an opinion. While there is no constitutional right to listen to a radio system, it does become an issue of the free exchange of information between the government and its people since everything our public safety responders and our courts do including their radio communications are a matter of pubic record.
You'll notice in every state's FOIA, any person with a legitimate interest can apply for these recordings. One problem with that becomes one of if we the people want to trust that tapes of radio comms have not been altered, sanitized, or otherwise tampered with by the government agency being petitioned.
For now, it would be advisable to only use radio equipment in your home, only use mobile phone scanner apps in your home, and if you have a laptop computer....do not take it in public if you have ANY type of radio software installed. Those who are radio amateurs may want to make sure they do not even have Echolink or other amateur radio software installed on any mobile phones or laptop computers until we have a SCOTUS ruling. The potential to be charged with obstruction of justice or other crimes for your radio applications or actual radio equipment is simply too high.
The whole attitude of the radio community has always been and still remains in this day that we use our radio knowledge, our radio equipment, and radio software LEGALLY and that we always give consideration to the social and legal environment because discretion is the better part of valor.
Today, we have places such as AES, HRO, Scanner Master, Universal Radio, etc. where radio equipment and software can easily be bought for anyone's use.
Now, even though the United States Federal Communications Privacy Act makes it completely legal to purchase, own, and use a radio receiver that receives AM, FM, ELF (extremely low frequency). HF (high frequency), LF (low frequency), VHF, UHF, EHF and SHF frequencies that are NOT encrypted; the police and prosecutors in all 50 states are crying foul. FCC Opinion & Order PR91-36 exempts Licensed Amateur Radio Operators from local, state level, and federal level restrictions, however, police and prosecutors usually do not know about this piece of law.
The problem with the U.S. Communications Privacy Act is that it is not really clear as to whether or not it overrides or even enjoins the individual states from restricting the purchase, possession, or use of radio receivers of any sort.
In this day and age of advanced technology the definition of what constitutes a prohibited radio receiver under some state's laws has come under question and scrutiny. In the first link below, we find that police and prosecutors are now taking a hard nosed approach towards cell phones with installed software applications that link such phone to internet connected, streaming radio receivers that stream public safety radio traffic to the end user.
Police, Prosecutors Weigh In On Legality Of Cellular Phone Scanner Apps
This link below at Radio Reference takes us to an incident in which a robbery offender was arrested in Indiana and charged with possession of a radio receiver because he had a cell phone app installed and it was discovered that the offender may have used it in the commission of his crime. The disussion focuses on whether or not the cell phone with the app installed meets Indiana's definition of a prohibited radio receiver not for use in a person's home and the technical definition of a radio receiver in context of what Indiana's law states. You'll see that there are differing opinions.
State Of Indiana Looks To Charge Robbery Offender With Illegal Possession Of Police Radio Reception Device
The scary part of these police and prosecutors taking the stance they take is that they are intent on using "Obstruction Of Justice" charges if and when the state law of any state is silent on radio receivers. What's even more scarier is that if they lose their case on the technical definition of what a radio receiver is, they want to use the obstruction charge in its place if and when they get someone who has either a cell phone with an app installed or in actual possession of a radio receiver.
A question now exists about if a person can be charged with obstruction simply for possession of a cell phone with a streaming public safety radio receiver application installed or in actual possession of a radio receiver even IF they did not use such in furtherance of a crime in any given state. Another question now exists in the eyes of police and prosecutors about using this law to circumnavigate PR91-36.
Shortwave America will be speaking with police and prosecutors in as many states as possible to ascertain each state's position on the possession and use of radio receivers, and whether or not they think law abiding persons who simply want to have use of such to keep themselves and their families safe should be arrested and if they really want the courts to get involved. The ARRL will also be sought for their opinion.
The issue here for law abiding citizens and licensed radio amateurs is one in which they should indeed have such a right to listen in to a system that is not encrypted for their own safety, it DOES help the safety minded and police or other emergency responders in that people will be warned by such radio traffic to stay away from these scenes and the affected areas...it actually helps responders when people know to stay clear instead of innocently wandering in to or driving into an affected emergency response area.
One area of civil liberties that needs to be examined is this attitude (even if it is a farce for political purposes and political public image) that everyone is a criminal until proven otherwise, and that every is guilty until proven innocent simply because of the mentality that anyone can do anything at anytime at any place.....the old "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, did it really make a sound?" approach.
What police, prosecutors, and the courts don't realize is that if they operate this way, they create distrust between themselves and the communities they serve and inherently violate the rights of the masses based on unfounded paranoia. This is a fact, not an opinion. While there is no constitutional right to listen to a radio system, it does become an issue of the free exchange of information between the government and its people since everything our public safety responders and our courts do including their radio communications are a matter of pubic record.
You'll notice in every state's FOIA, any person with a legitimate interest can apply for these recordings. One problem with that becomes one of if we the people want to trust that tapes of radio comms have not been altered, sanitized, or otherwise tampered with by the government agency being petitioned.
For now, it would be advisable to only use radio equipment in your home, only use mobile phone scanner apps in your home, and if you have a laptop computer....do not take it in public if you have ANY type of radio software installed. Those who are radio amateurs may want to make sure they do not even have Echolink or other amateur radio software installed on any mobile phones or laptop computers until we have a SCOTUS ruling. The potential to be charged with obstruction of justice or other crimes for your radio applications or actual radio equipment is simply too high.
The whole attitude of the radio community has always been and still remains in this day that we use our radio knowledge, our radio equipment, and radio software LEGALLY and that we always give consideration to the social and legal environment because discretion is the better part of valor.
Media Network Plus Blog: New Look, New Content
Media Network Plus is going to present it's 8th show soon. Time really flies! It seems just like yesterday the show began and it's been 8 months! Click here to see the Media Network Plus Blog.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
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