Section 23-543 - Possession, sale, distribution, manufacture, assembly, and advertising of wire or oral communication intercepting devices prohibited

Possession, sale, distribution, manufacture, assembly, and advertising of wire or oral communication intercepting devices prohibited

(a) Except as otherwise specifically provided in subsection (b) of this section, any person who in the District of Columbia --

(1) willfully possesses, sells, distributes, manufactures, or assembles an intercepting device, the design of which renders it primarily useful for the purpose of the surreptitious interception of a wire or oral communication; or

(2) willfully places in any newspaper, magazine, handbill, or other publication any advertisement of --

(A) any intercepting device, the design of which renders it primarily useful for the purpose of the surreptitious interception of a wire or oral communication; or

(B) any intercepting device where such advertisement promotes the use of such device for the purpose of the surreptitious interception of a wire or oral communication;

shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

(b) It shall not be unlawful under this section for --

(1) a communication common carrier or an officer, agent, or employee of, or a person under contract with a communication common carrier, in the usual course of the communication common carrier's business; or

(2) a person under contract with the Government of the United States, a State or a political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia, or an officer, agent, or employee of the Government of the United States, a State or a political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia;

to possess, sell, distribute, manufacture or assemble, or advertise any intercepting device, while acting in furtherance of the appropriate activities of the United States, a State or political subdivision thereof, the District of Columbia, or a communication common carrier.

CREDIT(S)

(July 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 618, Pub. L. 91-358, title II, § 210(a).)

HISTORICAL AND STATUTORY NOTES

Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 23-543.
1973 Ed., § 23-543.

Current through September 13, 2012