Scanner Legislation Revised

The fire service has been deeply concerned about the threat posed to public safety agencies by H.R. 2369, a bill intended to strengthen laws against eavesdropping of cellular phone calls.

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) supports the bill's stated goal of preventing eavesdropping of private wireless communications. However in its original form, H.R. 2369 would have prohibited fire departments from using scanners for legitimate public safety purposes. The NVFC has been part of a coalition of fire service representatives, scanner users, and scanner manufacturers who have been working with Congress to revise this potentially detrimental legislation.

The principal sponsor of the bill, Rep. Billy Tauzin, Chairman of the House Telecommunications Subcommittee, his staff, and other Subcommittee members responded to the concerns of the scanner community and the volunteer fire service by narrowing the bill in a manner that preserved its intended goal of enhancing the privacy of wireless communications while eliminating its adverse impact on the legitimate uses of scanners. The revised bill was approved by the Telecommunications Subcommittee on October 29 and awaits consideration by the full House Commerce Committee.

The new bill helps guard against cellular eavesdropping by strengthening laws against the illegal modification and use of scanning receivers and by extending current law provisions that bar the manufacturing of scanners that can receive cellular an PCS frequencies. The bill also protects the privacy of wireless telephone services that share frequencies with other publicly accessible transmissions by banning the decoding of digital code from publication. This affords a means of ensuring against the interception of wireless telephone calls on shared frequencies while maintaining the right of scanner users to monitor other communications as guaranteed by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.

Once again, the participation of the NVFC and its members has had a direct and positive impact on the legislative process. This action has ensured that fire departments will continue to benefit from the use of affordable radio scanners.

The NVFC applauds Rep. Tauzin and his staff for their constructive efforts to resolve the volunteer fire services concerns with H.R. 2369.

As the bill proceeds to consideration in the full House Commerce Committee, and on the House floor, the NVFC will continue to work to resolve any outstanding technical issues and preserve the important balance of interests achieved by the Subcommittee.

Update:
This bill has passed the house and is now awaiting action by the Senate Committee on Commerce. 7-11-98

For More Information Contact:
Craig Sharman
NVFC Government Affairs Specialist
1-888-ASK-NVFC

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