Your Legal Rights

Many people falsly believe that listening to police and other scanner activity is illegal.  This is not true.  It is fully legal to listen to any over-the-air unencrypted communications except for celluar communications.

To help you stay legal though here are some things you need to keep in mind:

1) It is NOT legal for you to disclose what you hear to others.  In other words, if you hear a drivers license number ran on someone, you can't write that number down and give it to others.

2)  You can't use our service in the commision of a crime.  For example, if you decide to rob your local grocery store, it is illegal for you to be listening to our streams during that time (this includes any possible pursuit that may follow).

3) It is illegal to use any information you hear for your own personal gain.

Our Legal Rights

Scan Whitley Online violates no local, state, or federal laws providing our services to our users. This includes our live stream, archives, fire paging system, and recent events.  Over the air communication is governed by the FCC and falls in their jurisdiction.  Further, Scan Whitley Online technically operates out of Atlanta, Georgia in which neither local or state laws have jurisdiction.  The only federal laws that have any thing to do with our services are outlined below.  As you will see, we clearly do not violate any of these.

First let's look at 47 USC 605

Except as authorized by chapter 119, Title 18, no person receiving, assisting in receiving, transmitting, or assisting in transmitting, any interstate or foreign communication by wire or radio shall divulge or publish the existence, contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning thereof, except through authorized channels of transmission or reception,......

We fall under the exception detailed here as chapter 119, Title 18 as follows

(g) It shall not be unlawful under this chapter or chapter 121 of this title for any person--

(i) to intercept or access an electronic communication made through an electronic communication system that is configured so that such electronic communication is readily accessible to the general public;

(ii) to intercept any radio communication which is transmitted--

(I) by any station for the use of the general public, or that relates to ships, aircraft, vehicles, or persons in distress;

(II) by any governmental, law enforcement, civil defense, private land mobile, or public safety communications system, including police and fire, readily accessible to the general public;

(III) by a station operating on an authorized frequency within the bands allocated to the amateur, citizens band, or general mobile radio services; or

(IV) by any marine or aeronautical communications system;

(iii) to engage in any conduct which--

(I) is prohibited by section 633 of the Communications Act of 1934; or

(II) is excepted from the application of section 705(a) of the Communications Act of 1934 by section 705(b) of that Act;

(iv) to intercept any wire or electronic communication the transmission of which is causing harmful interference to any lawfully operating station or consumer electronic equipment, to the extent necessary to identify the source of such interference; or

(v) for other users of the same frequency to intercept any radio communication made through a system that utilizes frequencies monitored by individuals engaged in the provision or the use of such system, if such communication is not scrambled or encrypted.

Further, chapter 119, Title 18 continues as

(16) "readily accessible to the general public" means, with respect to a radio communication, that such communication is not--

(A) scrambled or encrypted;

(B) transmitted using modulation techniques whose essential parameters have been withheld from the public with the intention of preserving the privacy of such communication;

(C) carried on a subcarrier or other signal subsidiary to a radio transmission;

(D) transmitted over a communication system provided by a common carrier, unless the communication is a tone only paging system communication; or

(E) transmitted on frequencies allocated under part 25, subpart D, E, or F of part 74, or part 94 of the Rules of the Federal Communications Commission, unless, in the case of a communication transmitted on a frequency allocated under part 74 that is not exclusively allocated to broadcast auxiliary services, the communication is a two-way voice communication by radio;

The preceding clears up the meaning of "readily accessible to the general public" ensuring our inclusion to the exemption of 47 US 605.  Further, all emergency frequencies provided by the FCC for Fire, EMS, and Police services in Whitley County, thus heard on our service, are allocated under part 90 of the Rules of the Federal Communications Commission.  Thus, we do not violate part E of chapter 119, Title 18.

This proves that Scan Whitley Online violates no Federal law providing our services to our users.  No state or locality laws can trump our rights as expressly provided to us by US Federal law as they have no jurisdiction to govern wireless communications as that is controlled by the FCC.

Also, the US DMCA law provides us protection as a service provider from liability to unlawful use of our service by our users.