FCC’s Warrantless Household Searches Alarm Experts

Source: By Ryan Singel - Wired Mag

You may not know it, but if you have a wireless router, a cordless phone, remote car-door opener, baby monitor or cellphone in your house, the FCC claims the right to enter your home without a warrant at any time of the day or night in order to inspect it.

That’s the upshot of the rules the agency has followed for years to monitor licensed television and radio stations, and to crack down on pirate radio broadcasters. And the commission maintains the same policy applies to any licensed or unlicensed radio-frequency device.

“Anything using RF energy — we have the right to inspect it to make sure it is not causing interference,” says FCC spokesman David Fiske. That includes devices like Wi-Fi routers that use unlicensed spectrum, Fiske says.

Read more: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/05/fcc-raid/

I don't about you, but I'm ready for some change! GObama.

Nothing's getting past our 77 lb border collie. The 17 lb sheltie isn't that much of a challenge (she barks and backs up).

This guy will run up to anyone and just when you think it is safe, if he doesn't know you and you dare look at him, he will strike without warning. He goes from a goofy little trot and a smile on his face...tongue out, to jaws on legs.

Our other pits will just roll over and demand belly rubs to gain access.



Then there is the chihuahua.

"This guy will run up to anyone and just when you think it is safe, if he doesn't know you and you dare look at him, he will strike without warning. He goes from a goofy little trot and a smile on his face...tongue out, to jaws on legs.
"

If that ever happened to me in a public place, your dog would die on the spot. Count on it.

"If that ever happened to me in a public place, your dog would die on the spot. Count on it."

chill out.

of biting people. I never take such things lightly. Then, the poster included a photo of her animal in a public place.

Sounds like a vicious dog to strangers. Dogs encounter strangers in public places. Sometimes they bite those strangers.

It's my way of saying one shouldn't brag about their dog's vicious and unpredictable nature.

As for what I said, it is simply the truth. That is exactly what would happen should that, or any other dog apply its jaws to my leg. I have precisely zero tolerance for any dog that attacks people without provocation.

Many folks feel this way. Some are armed in public. It's worth thinking about. Perhaps the owner of that pit bull should either train those tendencies out of her dog or never take it in public places.

mainly because they sometimes encountered vicious dogs.

We had a rottweiler in our neighborhood who attacked a dachshund when his owner left him out in the yard to do his business. The owner, a lady in her late sixties was able to get the dachshund back inside her house but the rottweiler attempted to force the door of her house open to continue the attack. The dachshund was severely injured and spent two weeks at the vets recuperating. Unfortunately the dog had to be castrated. The owner had planned to breed him.

My daughter has a tiny Boston terrier that she would walk around the neighborhood. Fearing an attack by the rottweiler, she carried her .22 mag S&W revolver with her. If I walked her dog, I carried my weapon, a S&W .357 mag. (We both have concealed carry permits.) We also carried pepper spray, the same kind the police carry. Hopefully that would have deterred the attack before we had to use a firearm.

The rottweiler was never caught and it probably had escaped his owner and wandered into our neighborhood.

We called the police chief and informed him that if our dog were to be attacked, we would shoot the animal. Surprisingly, he had no problem with that.

And I was shopping for a paint ball gun to shoot them with, the gun store owner refused to sell me one since he said the splat of the paint ball was likely to just piss off the dogs. So I told him I'd just carry my .22 mag - he said that didn't have enough kick to stop a determined dog. He wanted to sell me a larger gun to carry. With my bad shoulder, I wasn't sure I could handle my .22 much less something bigger.

Instead, a couple of neighborhood boys that wanted to fish in my pond took care of things for me. They had larger caliber guns and carried them with them when they fished. When the dogs came over to hassle them, they told the owners that if the dogs continued to be aggressive, they had my permission to shoot any dog on my property for their own protection.

The dogs now have a better fence and no longer wander the neighborhood. All my complaints never did that, even after they tried to attack me, my husband, and our cats on our own property. A couple of teenage boys openly carrying guns did the job and they never had to fire a shot.

and no shots fired.

I also had some concerns about the effectiveness of a .22 mag on a dog. That's why I hoped that if my daughter did encounter the rottweiler, the Sabre Red OC spray would prove a deterrent.

But fortunately we never did see or hear of that dog again. We had a friend rooming with us who had a rottweiler puppy, so we fenced in the yard to give him some room to run. The fence proved great for the dogs, but we rarely walk them anymore. I've gain a few pounds since I stopped walking my daughter's dog.

So it would do more damage to me than to anything I tried to use it on!

I never wanted to injure the dogs - that's why the paintball gun idea. I figured if the dogs came home with a day glow pink splotch on their side, the owners might get a clue. But it was getting serious - the dogs not only acted aggressively towards me, they also were aggressive towards my 6'2" husband.

They chased our younger cat up on the porch and then cornered our old, decrepit cat who can barely walk. I had to go after the dogs with a hoe to get them to leave him alone and they tried to attack me. Animal control would not do anything. Their budget has been severely cut and they barely can handle the town, much less the county areas. Besides, from past experience all they do is to fine the owners $25 and give them their dogs back.

I had tracked down the owners, talked to them a number of times, told them their dogs were liable to be shot, told them I had to beat the dogs off the cat and myself with the hoe, all to no good. They claimed they were upgrading their fencing, but we saw no change. Until the boys let them know that they would shoot the dogs.

It used to be that stray dogs learned from our horses to not come on the property. My old mares would run down dogs - that's how they taught the neighbor stray Rotweiller to not come over. My big mare almost brained the dog by stomping it one day. And if it got in the stallion paddock, the stallion would take a chunk out a dog - he did that to a golden retriever someone let loose here without our permission! But my old mares are gone and the younger ones are just not that aggressive.

When my daughter was living in south Florida far out in the country, a neighbor who lived a mile away owned a pack of five dogs who would terrorize the neighborhood.

My daughter had three young children and was concerned about their safety. She contacted the neighbor and asked him to repair his fence. When that failed she called animal control. Another wasted effort.

The dog pack entered the yard of her closest neighbor about 1/4 mile away and killed his hunting dog.

My son in law used a 30-30 rifle to solve the problem. Sad, but at least no children were attacked.

But they do not realize that a pack may be well behaved for what they consider a part of their pack, and vicious to non-pack members.

Most areas these days have leash laws - enforcing them is the problem. After our cat and I were threatened, I did get my gun out and considered finding ammunition for our antique 44/22 Gamegetter. It was my husband's grandfather's gun to carry in the north woods. The 22 was for small game, the 44 for stopping larger animals.

But my right shoulder is bad (surgery next Thursday) and I've never shot anything that caliber. The boys are experienced hunters, well trained by their fathers, and they know the law. So I trusted them to take care of things.

if you ever do it in a public place you will die on the spot. Count on it.

He has had training and we have a very specific introduction routine that wouldn't happen if someone, as described in the OP, would come into our house without us being home. Casper wouldn't know them and they wouldn't be allowed in. We can take him out to public places but sure as shit don't take him out off leash.

Thank you for your warning and please call before you drop by for a visit.

watch kitty will need to be dealt with as well....He will break ear drums running up the stairs to hide!

I'd be curious to know when and how they have exercised this supposed authority. They show up at my door and about the most I'd do is hand them the router. Furthermore, I'd be curious to know what made them think I had one. I suspect their real authority extends from commercial authority and most installations aren't commercial in nature.

They are professionals.

:rofl:

amateur radio was fairly popular and the VHF and UHF bands were being explored. Lots of television interference and radio disruption, but from what I recall many times the amateur ops were cleared, the problem being oil burners, refrigerators etc. as often as not.

up and down every street, looking for your wireless router.

Oh, wait...that's the real estate guy, looking for an unprotected signal so he can check his email.

Never mind...

My wife used to have a PDA that worked with wireless. It would automatically seek out any wireless networks in the vicinity. So, one day I thought it would be interesting to see how many unprotected wireless networks I could find near my home (besides mine, of course). So I got my wife to drive her usual route from our house to her mom's while I watched her PDA detect wireless signals.

Now, this is a blue collar neighborhood in a major city. It's a five minute drive to her mom's house, through residential streets.

There were DOZENS of available networks...unprotected networks...on that drive. I was most intrigued with one that had the name "Sexy Babe." My wife was less amused by that one, though...she refused to circle around to see if we could pin it down by the signal strength measurement. Such is married life.

At least where I am. I used to see a *lot* of unprotected networks, now I see a lot of WPA.

unannounced in the middle of the night in Texas. It's a good way to get shot.

Anything using RF energy — we have the right to inspect it to make sure it is not causing interference.
Manufactures of the devices KNOW how much energy their products produce. Entering a house is illegal search and seizure.
This is another Bush Admin regulation that is still on the books

The FCC field office was investigating an illegal radio station after complaints of radio interference. They never did go into anyone's house, just left a notice at the front door to try and scare some sense into the people operating it.

And why don't the guys operating that station just get a permit for a low power FM station and do it legally?

who broke in yesterday and stole my Pringles.

The article says the issues were people running transmitters on FM or AM bands. Of course the FCC is going to try to enforce that. That is part of what they do. They do not care about people using wireless phones or routers.

over something that was never going to happen. Nonsense stuff.

Changing laws as things change is better then saying stop wetting yourself. It is an open door to infringements on my civil liberties.

I don't think people are going to show up at my door anytime soon.....

on implied pro-civil liberty promises.

that means ditch the patriot act and other Bush bullshit, and stop the wiretapping and unconstitutional search shit.

that was a big part of my vote for several candidates.

:kick:

and to those of you who are not concerned what happens when your house is searched for "router interference" you will be up in arms as you should be - we live in a nation under the rule of law no man is greater than another under it, disregard this liberty at your own peril.

It's weird to me that the airwaves are public but you have to pay an exorbitant licensing fee to use them.

Rp