[wplug] Software to record phone conversations?

Bill Moran wmoran at potentialtech.com
Tue Nov 9 19:28:31 EST 2004


"Ryan Brown" <wplug at tblive.com> wrote:
>> Be careful, though.  It's against the law to record a conversation in
>> Pennsylvania unless all participants consent to the recording.  I had
>> to research this because we're planning on recording conversations for
>> our business.
>
> Out of curiosity, what if the asterisk box is in a state (not sure which
> ones if any...) where the law says both parties do not need to consent?
> 
> Both callers would be in PA, but the asterisk and recording would be in
> state X.
> 
> Any idea if this is legal?

I have no idea.  That's one for the lawyers, not me.  I am not a lawyer.
This is not legal advice.

I do know these (simple) facts:
1) Federal law states that 1 participant in the conversation must consent.
   Which means you can be in a meeting of 500 people and record it because
   you are a participant - and nobody else even needs to know.
2) Only 12 states have stricter laws than that.
3) PA is one of them, and in PA, _everyone_ has to consent.
4) It's also against the law in PA to listen to a conversation that was
   recorded without all participants' consent.  I would guess that the
   scenerio you describe would be legal, but you'd still have to leave
   PA to listen to it without breaking the law.
5) I think PA's laws are a crock, and I'm going to write to my rep
   and demand that they be changed when I have time.  A law that strict
   only benefits criminals and liars.

As far as the other intra-state interactions ... I won't even try to
guess.

-- 
Bill Moran
Potential Technologies
http://www.potentialtech.com


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