Pilfering Calls Off Cell Phones Violates Law

WASHINGTON — It was a clear violation of federal wiretap law for someone to intercept and distribute the contents of House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s cellular phone conference, lawyers and communications experts said Friday.

Even so, Americans should take heed never to say anything on their 42 million cell phones “that they wouldn’t say on a crowded elevator,” in the words of one authority.

Interception of cell phone calls has been a criminal act since 1986, when those devices were included in federal wiretap statutes. But the technology of cellular phones makes it much easier for conversations to be monitored than is the case with hard-wired phones.

Already, examples are multiplying around the country--and the world--of cell calls being heard by unintended ears, with sometimes damaging consequences.

A few years ago, aides of Sen. Charles S. Robb (D-Va.) obtained the tape of a political opponent’s cell phone call. Ultimately, after an ensuing uproar, they pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and were fined.

“These incidents are becoming more common, especially in politics,” said Larry Sabato, a professor of government at the University of Virginia. “An overheard phone call in Texas got a city councilman in trouble for racial slurs, and some political damage occurred in North Carolina from another.”

In the case of the House speaker, attorney Daniel Weitzner of the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology said amendments 11 years ago to the federal wiretap act “certainly make it illegal for anyone to intercept cell phone calls.”

The law also prohibits “distribution of the contents of an illegally intercepted call, as occurred in this case,” Weitzner said.

The act provides for penalties for a first offense of as much as a year in prison and a $5,000 fine. But attorneys said that, in the Gingrich case, it might be difficult to determine the perpetrator.

The number of cellular phone users doubles every 18 months, said Mike Altschul, a lawyer for the Washington-based Cellular Telecommunications Industry Assn. In addition, there are 10 million to 15 million scanners in use capable of picking up cell conversations within 5 to 10 miles of the source.

Weitzner said ordinary scanners--radios that can pick up a broad range of the radio spectrum--can easily be modified to search for cell phone conversations.