Awatmath.2277
net.followup
utzoo!decvax!watmath!jcwinterton
Thu Apr 29 10:58:27 1982
Re: Watch It! (interception of satellite/pay TV signals)
All of the discussion under this topic can be summed up in one old
legal profession cliche "A man's home is his castle".
The Canadian Government tried to regulate home satellite dishes and
got fully creamed in the process. No matter what congress does in the U.S.
I expect any such law to be struck down in the U.S. courts.
The communications legislation with respect to private correspondence
(i.e. telephone calls) takes care of overhearing of private conversations
by making it illegal (and very actionable) to use or repeat anything not
specifically directed to the receiving station. I am aware of this because
of the public correspondence channels on the VHF system that I have for my
boat.
Naturally, the real answer to secrecy in broadcast signals is encoding.
Look how successful the Germans (ultra) and Japanese (purple) were in WW II.
Science fiction fans will recall the opinion expressed by RAH in his story
Waldo, many years ago. Who knows, maybe in a hundred more years of radiating
additional energy into the atmosphere will solve the problem in natures way.
We could be selected out.
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