Publishing Scanner traffic

[poorfarm]

Could any one helpme out here ? I have always heard that it was illegeal to publish or retransmit what you hear on the scanner. But this am in the "The Leaf Chronicle" a local paper in Clarksville Tn A reporter DAvid R Ross is Reporting about a fatal shooting and states "According to emergency scanner traffic" . Maybe I'm wrong just sounded wrong

 

[tspainiv]

What that reporter did wasn't illegal. Also, what they mean by retransmitting is taking what you hear on a police frequency and retransmitting it on a different frequency, like a cb or amature radio frequency. At least that's what I've been told....

 

[crayon]

The FCC responded on this topic:

Section 705 of the Communications Act generally does not prohibit the publication on the Internet of fire department and police department radio broadcasts. The interception of these radio communications is legal under the criminal wiretap statute, 18 U.S.C. 2510 et seq., to the extent the communications are readily accessible to the general public, which police and fire department radio communications generally are.

Therefore, the rebroadcast of police and fire department radio communications that are obtained legally does not constitute a violation of section 705 of the Communications Act.

There was some questions if operating an online scanner was illegal or not. The same concepts apply to publishing information in print or telling your mother what you heard.

More information is in this thread: http://www.radioreference.com/forums/showthread.php?t=525