I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 514
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to strengthen and clarify
prohibitions on electronic eavesdropping, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 3, 1999
Mrs. WILSON (for herself, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. OXLEY, Ms.
ESHOO, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr. WYNN, Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. LUTHER,
Mr. ROGAN, Mr. SAWYER, Mr. PICKERING, and Mr. GILLMOR) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce
A BILL
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to strengthen
and clarify prohibitions on electronic eavesdropping, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wireless Privacy En-
hancement Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. COMMERCE IN ELECTRONIC EAVESDROPPING
DEVICES.
(a) 
PROHIBITION
ON
MODIFICATION.—Section
302(b) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C.
302a(b)) is amended by inserting before the period at the
end thereof the following: ‘‘, or modify any such device,
equipment, or system in any manner that causes such de-
vice, equipment, or system to fail to comply with such reg-
ulations’’.
(b) PROHIBITION ON COMMERCE IN SCANNING RE-
CEIVERS.—Section 302(d) of such Act (47 U.S.C.
302a(d)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(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, de-
nying 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 fre-
quencies that are allocated to the domestic cel-
lular radio telecommunications service or the
personal communications service;
‘‘(B) readily being altered to receive trans-
missions in such frequencies;
‘‘(C) being equipped with decoders that—
‘‘(i) convert digital domestic cellular
radio telecommunications service, personal
communications service, or protected spe-
cialized 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 oth-
erwise decode encrypted radio transmissions for
the purposes of unauthorized interception.
‘‘(2) PRIVACY PROTECTIONS FOR SHARED FRE-
QUENCIES.—The 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 regula-
tions 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-
sion shall consider defining ‘capable of readily being
altered’ to require scanning receivers to be manufac-
tured in a manner that effectively precludes alter-
ation of equipment features and functions as nec-
essary to prevent commerce in devices that may be
used unlawfully to intercept or divulge radio commu-
nication.
‘‘(4) WARNING LABELS.—In prescribing regula-
tions under paragraph (1), the Commission shall
consider requiring labels on scanning receivers warn-
ing of the prohibitions in Federal law on inten-
tionally intercepting or divulging radio communica-
tions.
‘‘(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
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal Com-
munications Commission shall prescribe amendments to
its regulations for the purposes of implementing the
amendments made by this section.
SEC. 3. UNAUTHORIZED INTERCEPTION OR PUBLICATION
OF COMMUNICATIONS.
Section 705 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
U.S.C. 605) is amended—
(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 ‘‘and divulge’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘or divulge’’;
(4) by striking the last sentence of subsection
(a) and inserting the following: ‘‘Nothing in this
subsection prohibits an interception or disclosure of
a communication as authorized by chapter 119 of
title 18, United States Code.’’;
(5) 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,’’; and
(6) in subsection (e)(3), by striking ‘‘any viola-
tion’’ and inserting ‘‘any receipt, interception, divul-
gence, publication, or utilization of any communica-
tion in violation’’;
(7) 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 sub-
section (a)’’; and
(8) by adding at the end of subsection (e) the
following new paragraph:
‘‘(7) Notwithstanding any other investigative or en-
forcement activities of any other Federal agency, the Com-
mission shall investigate alleged violations of this section
and may proceed to initiate action under section 503 of
this Act to impose forfeiture penalties with respect to such
violation 
upon 
conclusion 
of 
the 
Commission’s
investigation.’’.
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