Telephone tap

You're sure?

Using California as an example (note that no legal distinction is made in most states between minors and adults):

Cal. Penal Code §§ 631, 632: It is a crime in California to intercept or eavesdrop upon any confidential communication, including a telephone call or wire communication, without the consent of all parties.

It is also a crime to disclose information obtained from such an interception. A first offense is punishable by a fine of up to $2,500 and imprisonment for no more than one year. Subsequent offenses carry a maximum fine of $10,000 and jail sentence of up to one year.

Eavesdropping upon or recording a conversation, whether by telephone (including cordless or cellular telephone) or in person, that a person would reasonably expect to be confined to the parties present, carries the same penalty as intercepting telephone or wire communications.

Conversations occurring at any public gathering that one should expect to be overheard, including any legislative, judicial or executive proceeding open to the public, are not covered by the law.

Anyone injured by a violation of the wiretapping laws can recover civil damages of $5,000 or three times actual damages, whichever is greater. Cal. Penal Code § 637.2(a). A civil action for invasion of privacy also may be brought against the person who committed the violation. Cal. Penal Code § 637.2.

To the exclusion of other laws that give parents specific rights regarding their minor children because those laws don't suit your agenda.

I did a quick Google search to show you that this issue isn't quite as cut and dried as you seem to think and you won't even accept that, so I'm certainly not going to waste my time digging up other case law, citing them for you and then arguing with you about what they mean.

Your problem with this issue is primarily a moral one. The legal issues involved are just a sideshow for those with too much time on their hands, because the bottom line here is that no court in any state is ever going to convict me of any crime for doing this as long as I don't misuse the information I glean in some outrageous manner. And I definitely don't have to worry about my children trying to sue me over it.

Your totally inaccurate characterization

Your totally inaccurate characterization

An appeal to common sense that was completely lost on you.

I shouldn't have bothered and I definitely won't be wasting any more of my time on a self-appointed usenet moral arbiter and legal expert.

Goodbye

What laws would those be? You haven't cited even one.

Look, it isn't my fault 38 states have made it illegal to do what you're trying to do to your kids. If that upsets you, it's not my problem.

You're damned right. You're a creep, yet somehow you see yourself as some kind of role model for your kids.

Rat shack makes a dohickey that'll allow you to record all conversation on your own phone system. It works by turning on a tape recorder everytime the phone accepts an incoming call or dials out. I have one around somewhere if you need the part #.(radio shack employees seldom have a clue about anything in their inventory unless it has to do with cell phones.)

In article ,

| Are there any ways to minimize or eliminate the cues that an extension | has been picked up, short of using an automatic recording device?

Well, like many, I think it's somewhat immoral to eavesdrop on your kids (nevermind it possibly being illegal or not) but I also realize that I may feel differently about that when my kids are a bit older than two and four. In any event, I can still answer the question ...

If you can't use a high impedance earpiece that won't make a click, get a potentiometer that goes from a high resistance to zero. Hook it up in series with the earplug in parallel with the phone line, with it set to the high resistance, then turn it down to zero when you want to listen. The impedance change would then be slow, so there would be no click.

In any event, your kids probably aren't dumb. They've probably already figured out that you're listening to them (if you are already doing so), and the clicks just confirm it.

California, for one, is an all party state. Fine of $10,000 and/or 1 year in the pen for each occurrence.

in

I seriously doubt anyone would actually get busted for listening in to their kids phonecalls, if you own the house and pay for the phone service, it's perfectly ethical to listen in, just as companies are allowed to listen to employees phones and read their email without notice or a warrant. If I had kids, no law would stop me from listening to their phone if I felt like doing it, but I would hope I could trust them enough to not have to.

"James Sweet" wrote: }I seriously doubt anyone would actually get busted for listening in to their }kids phonecalls, if you own the house and pay for the phone service, it's }perfectly ethical to listen in, just as companies are allowed to listen to }employees phones...

As long as they inform the caller that the conversation may be monitored (at least in the US).

Stan.

I would.................