Tapping cellphones is more trouble than tapping wired phones - they move around, and to tap them from the phone company end requires taps everywhere that you activate when you know where somebody is.
Exactly. So how come mom&pop with a scanner were able to record BOTH sides of the conversation without interruption? This seems pretty suspicious to me. I think Old Newt was targeted by someone inside the phone company, who was eavesdropping on all of his cell calls.
It is also possible that somewhere in the chain of information between mom&pop, the media, and us, the distinction between "cordless phone" and cellular phone. I gather it was a conference call that was intercepted. All it takes is one participant using a cordless phone in range of one scanner, and the whole conversation is compromised.
(Someone mentioned that they thought cordless phone intercepts weren't illegal the way cellular phone intercepts are. IANAL, but I recall that intercepting both was made illegal by the same legislation.)
Sorry Alan, they were right. The Supreme Court ruled that unlike cell phones, cordless phone users could presume privacy. PGP Fingerprint: FE 90 1A 95 9D EA 8D 61 81 2E CC A9 A4 4A FB A9 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Schear | Internet: azur@netcom.com Lamarr Labs | Voice: 1-702-658-2654 7075 West Gowan Road | Fax: 1-702-658-2673 Suite 2148 | Las Vegas, NV 89129 | --------------------------------------------------------------------- Internet and Wireless Development 1935 will go down in history! For the first time a civilized nation has full gun registration! Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead in the future! --Adolf Hitler