I guess this must be like growing/using hash. Perfectly legal to buy the component parts, totally illegal to use them.
So, it's illegal to listen to ATC, but OK to buy a radio that allows you to?
I've visited ATC before, should I have closed my ears?
I do hope some of the individuals in the ATC forum are not reflective of the ATC community as a whole. The "if you are interested in our job, p*ss off" attitude is not constructive!