Motorola BC796D - Manual (Page 8)

Scanning Legally
Your scanner covers frequencies used by many different groups, including police and fire
departments, ambulance services, government agencies, private companies, amateur radio
services, military operations, pager services, and wire line (telephone and telegraph) service
providers. It is legal to listen to almost every transmission your scanner can receive.
However, there are some transmissions that you should never intentionally listen to. These
include:
• Telephone conversations (cellular, cordless, or other private means of telephone signal
transmission)
• Pager transmissions
• Any scrambled or encrypted transmissions
According to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), you are subject to fines
and possible imprisonment for intentionally listening to, using, or divulging the contents of
such a conversation unless you have the consent of a party to the conversation (unless such
activity is otherwise illegal).
This scanner has been designed to prevent the reception of cellular telephone transmissions
and the decoding of scrambled transmissions. This is done to comply with the legal
requirement that scanners be manufactured so they are not easy to modify to pick up these
transmissions. Do not open your scanner’s case to make any modifications that could allow
it to pick up transmissions that are illegal to monitor. Modifying or tampering with your
scanner’s internal components or using it in a way other than as described in this manual
could invalidate your warranty and void your FCC authorization to operate it.
In some areas, mobile use of this scanner is unlawful or requires a permit. Check the laws in
your area. It is also illegal in many areas (and a bad idea everywhere) to interfere with the
duties of public safety officials by traveling to the scene of an incident without authorization.
Uniden® and Bearcat® are registered trademarks of Uniden America Corporation.
TrunkTracker is a proprietary trademark of Uniden America Corporation.
Other trademarks used throughout this manual are the property of their respective holders.
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