HB5194 - No Problem for scannists now

[N9JIG]

I spoke to Representative Dan Brady's office today as well as a
Lieutenant with the State Police who was their point person for
HB5194. Apparently the portion of the bill regarding streaming on the
Internet was in place at the request of some members of the StarCom21
governing board and was deleted after the letters from CARMA and
others were received by Rep. Brady and the ISP.

The reports in the media over the weekend that say the Internet
Streaming section is in place are in error, I would guess that they
relied on an older version of the bill for their reports.
Representative Brady had that section struck before the bill was voted
upon in the House and sent to the Senate.

The remaining portion of the bill basically banning cloning of
StarCom21 radios or unauthorized radio access is the ONLY part of the
bill sent to the Senate, and should be passed easily there.

The bill as it stands now does not infringe on the rights of the
scanning community and poses no threat for our members. I thanked Mr.
Brady and the ISP for their assistance in this matter and offered our
assistance if they need it in the future.

 

[werinshades]

Well...maybe

I wouldn't exactly say "no problem" for scannists as encryption is always a possibility (Cook County Sheriff ?) If their was some objection of internet streaming from some Starcom members governing board, then I would be concerned that since they could not get their provision in a bill passed, then maybe they will exercise the worst option possible in the scanner world. Don't celebrate quite yet..

 

[kurtatkars]

Still Concerned

Thanks for your efforts. Sounds like you've got a handle on it. The part of the proposed bill i've seen, unless it's changed recently, is the part that says "no person shall gain access to" that bothers me.
I realize it's somewhat out of context but it says what it says. Any thoughts on this???
Kurt L. Konrad
Central Illinois

 

[N9JIG]

While we will always have to be diligent to safeguard our hobby (or obsession as it applies to some) the threat of HB5194 has passed. The Cook County issue is troubling to be sure but there is little to be done about that.

When you have hobbies that some consider as questionable, be it railfanning, plane spotting, scanning, shooting or others, there are always threats. The best you can do is to be reasonable when a threat arrives and deal with it as most of those who helped with this situation did, by respectfully advising our elected officials of our views. This time it worked.

In my discussions with the Representative and the ISP offices I found that several people there actually use iPhone apps to listen to communications as well as this and other streaming sites. They were more concerned with commercialization of the information, such as selling reports of calls to wrecker or board-up services than they were with radio hobbyists listening to routine traffic.

 

[N9JIG]

In my discussions with Mr. Brady and the ISP the concern is solely with transmit-capable radios, scanners are not an issue.

Thanks for your efforts. Sounds like you've got a handle on it. The part of the proposed bill i've seen, unless it's changed recently, is the part that says "no person shall gain access to" that bothers me.
I realize it's somewhat out of context but it says what it says. Any thoughts on this???
Kurt L. Konrad
Central Illinois

 

[Astro25]

What I don't get is why possessing a cloned or "unauthorized" radio on the system is only a Class A Misdemeanor...

 

[gewecke]

Thank's for the update rich.
n9zas