> And the US government *does* control the airways. In particular the FCC.
> In the common case, the standard Internet wireless protocols can use
> additional channels outside of the US. In the US, some of the spectrum
> is used by the US military. In another case, simply listening to some
> radio channels is restricted, as you can not legally listen to police
> channels in a car.
Actually, it's the laws of the state of Indiana that make it illegal
to listen to a police scanner under certain circumstances, not the FCC
rules. Most US states do not have this type of restriction on police
scanners in cars. To get technical about it, it's a misdemeanor in
Indiana to possess a device capable of receiving law enforcement
frequencies that is capable of being used in a vehicle or as a
pedestrian; an actual vehicle is not required! Nor is having the
police channels programmed into the scanner required in order to be in
violation of the law. Not that they will tell you this if you go to
buy a scanner at Radio Shack. Most police officers don't know this
either.
There are exceptions to this of course. Amateur radio operators are
exempt from this law, for example, which is why I can legally have a
radio in my car that can receive police frequencies, so long as I'm
not committing some other crime.
Here's an interesting question though: I have a scanner at home that I
stream to the web. If someone else is listening to my feed in their
car on their Android phone over wifi, are they in violation of the
law? Nobody really knows for sure.
There are federal laws making it illegal to monitor certain
communications, such as cell phones, pagers, and encrypted stuff, but
police frequencies are not listed as restricted among the federal
regulations.
If anyone is really bored, the Indiana code regarding possession of a
police radio is IC 35-44-3-12.
Kevin
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