106TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION
H. R. 514
AN ACT
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to strengthen and clarify prohibitions on electronic eavesdropping, and for other purposes.
106TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION
H. R. 514
AN ACT
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to strengthen and clarify prohibitions on electronic eavesdropping, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2 1 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wireless Privacy En-
3 hancement Act of 1999’’. 4 5 6 (a)
SEC. 2. COMMERCE IN ELECTRONIC EAVESDROPPING DEVICES.
PROHIBITION
ON
MODIFICATION.—Section
7 302(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 8 302a(b)) is amended by inserting before the period at the 9 end thereof the following: ‘‘, or modify any such device, 10 equipment, or system in any manner that causes such de11 vice, equipment, or system to fail to comply with such reg12 ulations’’. 13 14 (b) PROHIBITION
CEIVERS.—Section ON
COMMERCE
IN
SCANNING RE-
302(d) of such Act (47 U.S.C.
15 302a(d)) is amended to read as follows: 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 ‘‘(d) EQUIPMENT AUTHORIZATION REGULATIONS.— ‘‘(1) PRIVACY
PROTECTIONS REQUIRED.—The
Commission shall prescribe regulations, and review and revise such regulations as necessary in response to subsequent changes in technology or behavior, denying equipment authorization (under part 15 of title 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any other part of that title) for any scanning receiver that is capable of— ‘‘(A) receiving transmissions in the frequencies that are allocated to the domestic cel•HR 514 EH
3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 lular radio telecommunications service or the personal communications service; ‘‘(B) readily being altered to receive transmissions in such frequencies; ‘‘(C) being equipped with decoders that— ‘‘(i) convert digital domestic cellular radio telecommunications service, personal communications service, or protected specialized mobile radio service transmissions to analog voice audio; or ‘‘(ii) convert protected paging service transmissions to alphanumeric text; or ‘‘(D) being equipped with devices that otherwise decode encrypted radio transmissions for the purposes of unauthorized interception. ‘‘(2) PRIVACY
QUENCIES.—The PROTECTIONS FOR SHARED FRE-
Commission shall, with respect to
scanning receivers capable of receiving transmissions in frequencies that are used by commercial mobile services and that are shared by public safety users, examine methods, and may prescribe such regulations as may be necessary, to enhance the privacy of users of such frequencies. ‘‘(3) TAMPERING
PREVENTION.—In
prescribing
regulations pursuant to paragraph (1), the Commis-
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4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 sion shall consider defining ‘capable of readily being altered’ to require scanning receivers to be manufactured in a manner that effectively precludes alteration of equipment features and functions as necessary to prevent commerce in devices that may be used unlawfully to intercept or divulge radio communication. ‘‘(4) WARNING
LABELS.—In
prescribing regula-
tions under paragraph (1), the Commission shall consider requiring labels on scanning receivers warning of the prohibitions in Federal law on intentionally intercepting or divulging radio communications. ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this subsection, the term ‘protected’ means secured by an electronic method that is not published or disclosed except to authorized users, as further defined by Commission regulation.’’. (c) IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS.—Within 90 days
20 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Com21 munications Commission shall prescribe amendments to 22 its regulations for the purposes of implementing the 23 amendments made by this section.
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5 1 2 3
SEC. 3. UNAUTHORIZED INTERCEPTION OR PUBLICATION OF COMMUNICATIONS.
Section 705 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
4 U.S.C. 605) is amended— 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 (1) in the heading of such section, by inserting ‘‘INTERCEPTION
OR’’
after ‘‘UNAUTHORIZED’’;
(2) in the first sentence of subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Except as authorized by chapter 119, title 18, United States Code, no person’’ and inserting ‘‘No person’’; (3) in the second sentence of subsection (a)— (A) by inserting ‘‘intentionally’’ before ‘‘intercept’’; and (B) by striking ‘‘communication and divulge’’ and inserting ‘‘communication, and no person having intercepted such a communication shall intentionally divulge’’; (4) in the fourth sentence of subsection (a)— (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘intercepted, shall’’; and (B) by striking ‘‘thereof) or’’ and inserting ‘‘thereof); or (B)’’; (5) by striking the last sentence of subsection (a) and inserting the following: ‘‘Nothing in this subsection prohibits an interception or disclosure of
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6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 a communication as authorized by chapter 119 of title 18, United States Code.’’; (6) in subsection (e)(1)— (A) by striking ‘‘fined not more than $2,000 or’’; and (B) by inserting ‘‘or fined under title 18, United States Code,’’ after ‘‘6 months,’’; (7) in subsection (e)(3), by striking ‘‘any violation’’ and inserting ‘‘any receipt, interception, divulgence, publication, or utilization of any communication in violation’’; (8) in subsection (e)(4), by striking ‘‘any other activity prohibited by subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘any receipt, interception, divulgence, publication, or utilization of any communication in violation of subsection (a)’’; and (9) by adding at the end of subsection (e) the following new paragraph: ‘‘(7) Notwithstanding any other investigative or en-
20 forcement activities of any other Federal agency, the Com21 mission shall investigate alleged violations of this section 22 and may proceed to initiate action under section 503 of 23 this Act to impose forfeiture penalties with respect to such
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7 1 violation upon conclusion of the Commission’s investiga2 tion.’’. Passed the House of Representatives February 25, 1999. Attest:
Clerk.
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