Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 07:59:24 -0800 (PST) From: Brian Lane <nexus@eskimo.com> To: Eric Murray <ericm@lne.com> Cc: cypherpunks@toad.com Subject: Re: Newt's phone calls

On Tue, 14 Jan 1997, Eric Murray wrote:

...

Clay Olbon II writes:

...

The congressman (Boehner? from Ohio) whose cellphone was "eavesdropped" stated today that he was parked in the lot of a Waffle House in Lake City FL. The couple said that they just happened to be driving by when they overheard and began taping the conversation.

Interesting. In California, operating a scanner while driving is illegal. Of course it was probably the passenger running the scanner.

Actually in Florida its illegal to even have a scanner in your car! These folks have broken several state and federal laws, as well as the congressman who leaked it to the newspapers instead of turning it over to the head of the Ethics committe as he should have. Everyone involved here is, or should be, in deep yogurt.

I don't like the laws they passed, but since they passed them I want to see them enforce them to the full extent posible. Then maybe people will start to wonder why the transmission wasn't encrypted. Which also leads to another question. How much information is in the clear from congressmen and government employees who are clueless about the security of their cellphones, cordless phones, etc?

Brian

I don't know about Florida, but in most states with anti-scanner-in-car bans, there's an exception for FCC licensed Amateur Radio Operators (aka 'hams'). Peter Trei N1MNV trei@process.com