Comment by kstrauser
1 month ago
As with so many other things, intent matters.
Owning lockpicks? Fine!
Owning lockpicks when you're caught burgling a house? You're extra screwed.
Owning an SDR? Fine!
Owning an SDR and getting caught using it to illegally disrupt communications? You're extra screwed.
Yes, you can absolutely own an SDR, and transmit with it on legal frequencies. If you're busted using it to break the law, then it's strong evidence that you went out of your way to deliberately, premeditatedly break it, and that makes for a bad day.
The person upthread said, unqualified:
> Actually, just being in possession of such a device in the US isn't legal.
Their view was that it isn't legal to own, regardless of context or intent. That's what GP was arguing against.
Yeah. I was reassuring the parent of my post that they’re right, it’s legal to own an SDR. You can still get in extra trouble for breaking the law with it, but it’s perfect fine to have and use one otherwise.
Sure, but my original question was what happens if two people are caught with an SDR unit, and authorities can't prove who (of the two people) used their unit to do the jamming.
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