Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Current Homeland Security bill makes some hobby radio listening a felony

From: Dave Emery <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2002 00:29:18 -0500

I have confirmed that the version of the Homeland Security Act
passed in the House does in fact contain the language eliminating the
hobby safe harbor for interception of radio communications not "readily
accessible to the general public" under the ECPA.   Such an
interception, once a minor offense for the first offender if not for
commercial advantage or private financial gain or in furtherance of a
crime will now be a major felony with 5 years in jail as penalties.

	No mercy for a first offense, or for signals extremely
readily intercepted on common scanners.

	This now means that tuning in the audio from the flying
traffic reporter's feed to the local radio stations to see about
a tie up ahead on the freeway is a felony that could land you
in jail for five years.   And woa under him who even thinks about
tuning the 46 and 49 mhz band to see what is there... or ever listening
to the beeps and buzzes of powerful pager transmitters that still
transmit the odd voice page intermixed with the POCSAG and FLEX.

---

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-965750.html

   House considers jailing hackers for life
   By Declan McCullagh
   November 13, 2002, 5:57 PM PT

   WASHINGTON--A last-minute addition to a proposal for a Department of
   Homeland Security would punish malicious computer hackers with life in
   prison.

   The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday evening voted 299 to
   121 to approve the bill, which would reshape large portions of the
   federal bureaucracy into a new department combining parts of 22
   existing federal agencies, including the Secret Service, the Coast
   Guard, and the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center.

   During closed-door negotiations before the debate began, the House
   Republican leadership inserted the 16-page Cyber Security Enhancement
   Act (CSEA) into the Homeland Security bill. CSEA expands the ability
   of police to conduct Internet or telephone eavesdropping without first
   obtaining a court order, and offers Internet providers more latitude
   to disclose information to police.

   In July, the full House approved CSEA by a 385-to-3 vote, but it died
   in the Senate. By inserting CSEA into the Homeland Security bill, the
   measure's backers are hoping for a second chance before Congress
   adjourns for the holidays.

   [...]

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	Dave Emery N1PRE,  [email-masked]  DIE Consulting, Weston, Mass. 
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---

From: Don Root <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 21:42:42 -0800

> readily intercepted on common scanners.

Dave -

Any link to a marked-up version of the bill?

---

From: Dave Emery <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2002 01:06:04 -0500

> Any link to a marked-up version of the bill?

	It is HR5710 - Homeland Security Act of 2002 as passed by House.

	The text can be found on http://thomas.loc.gov  under HR5710
(can't give more of a link because of the way Thomas works).

	The relevant section is Section 225 Cyber Security Enhancement Act
Paragraph J(1)  (Protecting Privacy)