…and you became interested in Air Traffic movements; how exactly?
I became interested in ATC through visiting towers during flying training. I'm not sure what that has to do with the price of cheese.
Forgive me if I’m wrong but shy ATCO’s have no place in the industry and would be foolish to think that only pilots are listening. (“occupational hazard, I’m afraid rodan”)
Of course spotters are listening in anyway, but by the nature of VHF, they need to be relatively close by to hear the ground station and their numbers are few in comparison to a potential internet audience. What they are doing is illegal, but no-one minds as long as they don't publish what they hear. To expand my analogy, they are the equivalent of passers-by overhearing your conversation in an office. Internet broadcast would be something entirely different.
…..and please do enlighten the group as to the ‘obvious’ safety issues of a live radar feed? (“It was rather the original question….”)
Certainly. Just one example, but it should be enough on it's own - many criminals would love to know when police aircraft are airbourne and where they are at a given moment. This info is not necessarily apparent from listening to R/T frequencies (which they do).