4 ms·

The vast majority of radio frequencies are illegal for private use in Japan, but that doesn't mean that radios are illegal, or that people don't use radios, or

by ipnon 5y ago

The vast majority of radio frequencies are illegal for private use in Japan, but that doesn't mean that radios are illegal, or that people don't use radios, or that anyone even checks for compliance.

vel0city 5y ago
Illegal to transmit on, or illegal to listen on? I agree with the government determining who has rights to transmit on which frequency ranges. If it was entirely a free for all, it would be hard to operate the kinds of wireless networks we all enjoy.
- iggldiggl 5y ago
  In Germany it's the latter – you're allowed to listen to amateur radio, plus any public broadcasts like radio, TV, CB radio, weather satellites, maybe a few other things, but nothing else that's only intended for a limited target audience. So while e.g. in Switzerland listening to air traffic control is legal and Zurich airport's official plane spotter info page even provides a direct link to liveatc.net, in Germany it's officially illegal unless you're a pilot (and even then it might possibly be technically illegal if you're listening in not directly in conjunction with flying, i.e. while not wearing your pilot hat figuratively speaking).
  - vel0city 5y ago
    That sounds terrible to me. If I'm being irradiated with energy I should be able to analyze it without the law preventing me from looking at it. If the communications are supposed to be private it should be on those parties involved to secure it or limit it from reaching me, not just outlawing listening to verboten frequencies. Would operating a general SDR would be illegal in Germany? How would they even begin to know you're listening to those frequencies as opposed to something else? I've got a hand-held amateur radio which easily tunes into the air bands, would such a radio be illegal to operate in Germany? FWIW, this is one place in US laws which is like this. There's a section of frequency ranges which analog cell phones operated on, and supposedly radios which are designed to tune to those frequencies aren't allowed. I'm not entirely sure how SDRs work in such a legal system, but they seem generally legal despite physically being able to tune in to those frequencies easily. Its kind of a moot law these days anyways, there are no analog radios susceptible to this basic "attack".
    - iggldiggl 5y ago
      Operating scanners or amateur radios or a SDR is fine, you're just not allowed to intentionally tune it to any non-public frequencies, and if you're just idly browsing through the spectrum then as soon as you realise that a transmission isn't public you need to stop listening immediately and forget anything you have received so far. > How would they even begin to know you're listening to those frequencies as opposed to something else? Or course the can't know that – what it effectively means is you can't do in public and shouldn't talk about it too loudly (hence e.g. liveatc.net doesn't have any coverage in Germany).

by ipnon 5y ago

The vast majority of radio frequencies are illegal for private use in Japan, but that doesn't mean that radios are illegal, or that people don't use radios, or that anyone even checks for compliance.

vel0city 5y ago

Illegal to transmit on, or illegal to listen on? I agree with the government determining who has rights to transmit on which frequency ranges. If it was entirely a free for all, it would be hard to operate the kinds of wireless networks we all enjoy.

iggldiggl 5y ago
In Germany it's the latter – you're allowed to listen to amateur radio, plus any public broadcasts like radio, TV, CB radio, weather satellites, maybe a few other things, but nothing else that's only intended for a limited target audience. So while e.g. in Switzerland listening to air traffic control is legal and Zurich airport's official plane spotter info page even provides a direct link to liveatc.net, in Germany it's officially illegal unless you're a pilot (and even then it might possibly be technically illegal if you're listening in not directly in conjunction with flying, i.e. while not wearing your pilot hat figuratively speaking).
- vel0city 5y ago
  That sounds terrible to me. If I'm being irradiated with energy I should be able to analyze it without the law preventing me from looking at it. If the communications are supposed to be private it should be on those parties involved to secure it or limit it from reaching me, not just outlawing listening to verboten frequencies. Would operating a general SDR would be illegal in Germany? How would they even begin to know you're listening to those frequencies as opposed to something else? I've got a hand-held amateur radio which easily tunes into the air bands, would such a radio be illegal to operate in Germany? FWIW, this is one place in US laws which is like this. There's a section of frequency ranges which analog cell phones operated on, and supposedly radios which are designed to tune to those frequencies aren't allowed. I'm not entirely sure how SDRs work in such a legal system, but they seem generally legal despite physically being able to tune in to those frequencies easily. Its kind of a moot law these days anyways, there are no analog radios susceptible to this basic "attack".
  - iggldiggl 5y ago
    Operating scanners or amateur radios or a SDR is fine, you're just not allowed to intentionally tune it to any non-public frequencies, and if you're just idly browsing through the spectrum then as soon as you realise that a transmission isn't public you need to stop listening immediately and forget anything you have received so far. > How would they even begin to know you're listening to those frequencies as opposed to something else? Or course the can't know that – what it effectively means is you can't do in public and shouldn't talk about it too loudly (hence e.g. liveatc.net doesn't have any coverage in Germany).