SA Court finds planespotter guilty
 

2011-08-06 07:54

Johannesburg - The Boksburg Magistrate's Court on Friday found planespotter Julian Swift guilty of illegally possessing a radio receiver and using it to listen to air traffic communications, the editor of the SA Flyer magazine said.

"He was found guilty on the two charges...and ordered to pay R5 000 or spend 10 months in jail," Guy Leitch said.

Swift, 52, was arrested at OR Tambo International Airport in February last year after officials saw him taking photos of landing planes.

He was found with a radio receiver that cannot transmit but is still illegal without a radio license under the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act.

The Independent Communications Authority of SA requires an operator of a receiver to qualify as a radio amateur.

Leitch said air traffic communications were easily accessible via internet live-streaming or at the High Flyers Bar at the end of OR Tambo's airstrip.

Swift, therefore, was accessing information which was freely available and should never have been charged.

Planespotting is the observation and logging of an aircraft's registration numbers as a hobby. In many countries, planespotters co-operate with police in reporting anything suspicious as a measure to target terrorism.
Source:Court finds planespotter guilty: News24: South Africa: News

There was a similar case to this a few years ago. The short of it is all mobile phones are technically illegal in SA, plus all bluetooth devices, plus all wifi devices. As they say: the law is an ass.

There was a time when Playboy was banned with either a white centerfold or a black one. Personally I always preferred the black ones. I believe in the same view as Angela Merkel. She says multiculturalism does not work and she is a great lady and must be right in what she says.

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!

Yes "FedUp", I stand corrected regarding the law in some countries and the use of a receiver. Still ridiculous though. Just as silly as the law in some third world hell holes that I went to, that prevented me from taking photographs of the oh so secret crumbling ruins that pretended to be buildings etc.

What would be the penalty if one where to be listening to the receiver at the same time as spilling a drink on someone? Now there's a conglomeration of serious crimes by South African standards.

What do the technical people do now?
 

Own Goal by the "authorities"
 

:D Re the air-craft monitoring - there is an archaic law left over from the good 'ole days when we had terrorists, commies etc trying to blow things up, so there were very restrictive rules on radio communication. The said prosecution is a real stooopid affair - the person involved was in a sensitive area that he should not have been, monitoring aircraft during a world cup event - when there was a high risk of possible terrorist activity - and gave the officials some lip when accosted - so they got "die moer in" and decided to throw the book at him - so the story goes ...
so yes, once again - according to the law it is an offence to listen to radio traffic on specified frequencies, but thousands do listen to air-craft traffic, it is even publicly broadcast at some airports, and streamed over the internet ....
A bit like swatting a mozzie in the Kruger Park - where it is an offence to kill wildlife !

So if you have a PPL,CPL or ATPL, are you entitled to 'operate a radio receiver' outside of your aircraft? In fact, we all use hand held radios which are not part of our A/C equipment.

'Illegal in UK & Ireland', well I'm not sure. If you visit any airshow you will dozens of spotters with airband radio. They are easy to obtain & I've never heard of a prosecution, unless for a unlicensed transmitter. I gather they don't allow internet streaming though, presumably this counts as re-broadcasting. However, I believe you can get Irish ATC streamed. I used to advise students to listen to it to aid their RT!