PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - SA Court finds planespotter guilty
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Old 8th Aug 2011, 22:41
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togabutton
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Hong Kong
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What a crock!

This whole matter is patently ridiculous. Transmitting on the air-band and interfering with ATC communications is an entirely different matter and is a serious offense. Prosecuting an individual for merely listening in on a receiver to info that is freely available over the internet and other sources is absurd! Many aviation shops throughout the world sell receivers aimed at aviation enthusiasts and hobbyists or even new pilots who want to listen to ATC to brush up their procedures.

Plane spotting is a popular hobby throughout the world as demonstrated by the numerous websites and books. Some airports, Hong Kong is a good example, have viewing decks in prime locations. These decks are often full of plane spotters with all manner of unconcealed expensive cameras. I don't see the harm in this pursuit. It is impossible to prevent people from looking up at the sky to view landing or departing aircraft. This whole matter stinks and smacks of other motives that I will not mention, but are obvious.

The cavemen that run the country want to waste resources and time on something that is NOT illegal in the developed world, but cannot provide reliable 24 hour electricity and a dent in the serious crime that pervades SA life. They pat themselves on the back and think they are being smart, but I wish they would see how stupid they look. Let me stop here before my blood boils and I get off topic!
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