WIRETAP_ACT

WT_ACT

**Summary of 18 U.S.C. § 2511**  
**Title**: Interception and disclosure of wire, oral, or electronic communications prohibited.

This is the core federal criminal statute (part of the Wiretap Act / Electronic Communications Privacy Act framework) that generally **makes it illegal to intentionally intercept, disclose, or use the contents of wire, oral, or electronic communications** without proper authorization.

### Main Prohibitions (Subsection (1))
It is a federal crime for any person to **intentionally**:
- Intercept (or try to intercept, or get someone else to intercept) any **wire**, **oral**, or **electronic communication**.
- Use a device to intercept **oral communications** under certain conditions (e.g., device attached to wires, radio-based, in interstate commerce, on business premises affecting commerce, etc.).
- Disclose (or try to disclose) the contents of such a communication, knowing it was illegally intercepted.
- Use (or try to use) those contents, knowing they came from an illegal interception.
- In certain cases, disclose lawfully intercepted communications from a criminal investigation with intent to obstruct it.

### Key Exceptions / When It Is Allowed (Subsection (2))
Many exceptions exist, including:
- Service providers (phone companies, email providers, etc.) intercepting in the normal course of business for service delivery, quality control, or protecting their rights/property (no random monitoring allowed).
- Providers helping law enforcement or government when given a court order or proper certification.
- FCC employees monitoring for enforcement of communications laws.
- One-party consent: A person (including law enforcement) can intercept if they are a party to the conversation **or** at least one party consents — but private (non-government) interceptors cannot do so if the purpose is criminal or tortious.
- Publicly accessible electronic communications or certain radio transmissions (e.g., distress signals, amateur radio, public broadcasts).
- Identifying sources of harmful radio interference.
- Pen registers, trap-and-trace devices, or recording call metadata to prevent fraud.
- Law enforcement intercepting a "computer trespasser" on a protected computer (with owner authorization and relevance to an investigation).
- Certain foreign intelligence activities or responses to foreign government orders under approved agreements.

### Provider Restrictions (Subsection (3))
Public electronic communication service providers generally cannot intentionally divulge the contents of communications in transmission (except to addressees/agents), but they **may** divulge with:
- Consent of a party
- To forward the message
- If inadvertently obtained and related to a crime (to law enforcement)
- As otherwise allowed under the chapter

### Penalties (Subsection (4))
Violations of subsection (1) are punishable by:
- Fine + up to **5 years** imprisonment (or both).
- Lesser treatment (often no criminal offense) for intercepting certain unencrypted satellite transmissions not done for commercial gain.

### Civil Remedies (Subsection (5))
For certain violations involving unencrypted private satellite video or specific radio communications (not for illegal/tortious/commercial purposes):
- Government can sue for injunction (first offense) or mandatory **$500** civil fine (repeat offenses or prior liability).

In short: **Don't secretly record or tap phone calls, emails, texts, or conversations without consent (or a warrant/court order) — one-party consent often suffices for participants, but third-party wiretapping without authorization is heavily restricted and usually illegal.** This law protects privacy in communications while carving out law enforcement, service-provider, and consent-based exceptions.