Originally Posted by
danco
As a licensed Ham, I call B.S. on this.
There are no restrictions on owning Ham gear. Listening in on Amateur communications is perfectly legal. In fact, it's so perfectly legal that Amateurs are prohibited from using encryption or codes to hide the content of communications. (Digital mode transmissions can be encoded, but the algorithms used are open-source and computer programs are available to decode and read these transmissions.) In fact, the openness of Amateur Radio is often a hindrance when providing emergency or disaster communications, because of privacy laws (especially HIPPA).
Amateur Radio is self-policed. The FCC does not have the resources to constantly monitor all Ham frequencies all across the country all of the time. There are Hams who sign up to be "Official Observers", who can document misuse of the bands, but it takes weeks or months of monitoring and documenting abuses before they can file a case with the FCC. And then, the FCC may check things out, but always on their own timetable. And this is only if you're illegally transmitting...They can't find you when you're just listening.
No one cares if you're listening. In fact, it's encouraged! If it sparks your interest enough that you decide to get licensed and join in the fun, so much the better for our hobby!