Cordless Phone tapped in New Jersey

[Bob Parnass, AJ9S]

x
From the March 11, 1986 issue of the New York Times:

Cordless Phones Raise
An Eavesdropping Issue

By Joseph F. Sullivan

"TRENTON, March 10 - Cordless telephones are at the cen-
ter of a debate in the New Jersey Division of Criminal
Justice over whether current wiretap laws apply to the
interception of conversations pulled out of the air."

"Last December someone recorded hours of conversations
that George Spanos, a Republican newly elected to the
Plainsboro Township Committee ...., had over his cordless
telephone with two political associates...."

"Mr. Spanos, who works for the New Jersey Office of
Telecommunications and Information Systems at state police
headquarters...said he was shocked when he learned his
private conversations were being recorded....."

"...[the tapes eventually] found their way to Donald R.
Belsole, the director of the Division of Criminal Justice.
Mr. Belsole said the tapes might form the basis for crim-
inal charges. But first, he said, he and his staff have
to agree on whether the state's wiretap statutes apply."

"Mr. Cantu, who received the tapes of Mr. Spano's conver-
sations from an intermediary, said he believed they had
been made by a ham radio operator...."

"Mr. Belsole agreed that the state wiretap
statues.....would cover the situation, but he said that
other lawyers in his office disagreed. He asked for a
report from his staff."

"Enis Coleman [of the FCC], said FCC regulations adopted
in 1935 and updated last year to cover cable communica-
tions banned the unauthorized interception and use of any
licensed transmission and carried penalties of up to two
years in prison and a $10,000 fine."

"'The problem with cordless telephones is so new that we
haven't had time to get into court with it,' Mr. Coleman
said, 'but I expect that in the future we will'."

"....a lawyer who represents Mr. Cantu said the proper
application of wiretap laws to the Plainsboro case was
unclear. He said he had found only two state court cases
involving cordless telephones - in Kansas and Rhode
Island. In those cases, he said, the courts had admitted
evidence obtained through the recording of conversations
over cordless telephones."

"However, he said he had found a Federal District Court
ruling that took the opposite position and suppressed the
evidence obtained in this way. The court held, he said,
that conversations over a cordless telephone were the same
as those over a closed system and came under 'wire commun-
ications.'"

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Bob Parnass, Bell Telephone Laboratories - ihnp4!ihu1h!parnass - (312)979-5414

[Larry Lippman]

In article <7...@ihu1h.UUCP>, par...@ihu1h.UUCP (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) writes:
> From the March 11, 1986 issue of the New York Times:
> Cordless Phones Raise
> An Eavesdropping Issue

> "TRENTON, March 10 - Cordless telephones are at the cen-
> ter of a debate in the New Jersey Division of Criminal
> Justice over whether current wiretap laws apply to the
> interception of conversations pulled out of the air."

> ...

There was a similar case in Olcott, NY (40 miles NE of Buffalo),
about two years ago. It involved two neighbors who were feuding, one of
whom was tape recording the cordless telephone calls of the other. A
properly executed search warrant resulted in seizing the tapes and recording
equipment, and a prosecution was commenced under the eavesdropping statues
of the NY State Penal Law. After much todo, a trial by judge resulted in
acquittal on all criminal charges.
While the judge plainly stated that he felt the eavesdropping was
a "rotten thing to do", he could find no criminal violation of the NY State
Penal Law.
The general legal reasoning behind the decision involved:

(1) The user of a cordless telephone operating on citizen's band
frequencies has no reasonable expectation of privacy.

(2) The eavesdropping did not involve any physical act with respect
to the "victim's" telephone line or premises.

(3) The eavesdropping consisted merely of using a radio receiver and
tape recorder, with those acts in themselves not being criminal.
The issue of "disclosure" to third parties of the communications
was raised, but since such an act could POSSIBLY be a violation
of the federal Communications Act of 1934 law, and the matter being
tried was for the state law only, there could be no consideration of
this issue.

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