On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:04:27 EDT, Bruce in alaska
wrote:

Hello Phil, I was wondering if the Secrecy Clause was still a part of
the Communications Act of 1934, or if it had been rescinded or replaced
by some other Language in some later Act? Does it still apply to any FCC
Operator License Holder?

Comes here the Kane tutorial on Communications Privacy / Secrecy......
ggg

First - some definition. "Intercept" means to merely receive the
contents of a communication, not necessarily the same meaning as to
"intercept a forward pass" in football. "Divulge" means to pass the
contents in whole or in part or in meaning to an other person not
authorized by law to receive such contents. "Personal use" means "use
for personal benefit or for the benefit of another not entitled to
thereof" although courts are loath to apply that unless there's a
monetary or similar benefit involved.

Now to the law. There are two sections of law that apply.

Section 705 of the Communications Act of 1934 as Amended [Section 605
of Title 47 of the U S Code] provides that no one receiving,
transmitting, or assisting in either may divulge the contents to
someone not authorized to receive such or make personal use of the
contents. with a whole bunch of exceptions and exemptions.

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), part of Chapter 119
of the US Criminal Code [ Section 2510 et seq of Title 18 of the U S
Code] provides that no one not authorized by the sender or by the law
may merely intercept certain types of communication. The violation
exists whether divulgence or personal use takes place or not. This is
the section of the law that provides the illusion of secrecy to cell
phone communications, among others. Again, there are a whole slew of
exceptions and exemptions.

Note that both sections exempt transmissions from amateur, CB, marine,
and aviation stations and communications relating to a disaster, as
well as broadcast programming (AM, FM, TV but not "satellite" TV)
intended for direct reception by the general public.

For more information. "inquire within". This is one of my
specialties.
--

73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane
ARRL Volunteer Counsel

email: k2asp [at] arrl [dot] net