Wireshark-users: Re: [Wireshark-users] live data capture question

From: Guy Harris <guy@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 01:16:19 -0800
AMEAUME ALAIN wrote:

NOW, if you want to capture this payload, you need lawfull rights !

Well, one of the people involved with a GSM capture project says, after speaking with a lawyer in the UK:

	http://wiki.thc.org/gsm#head-e10f6c374cd8f48452202a35d763cbf99e59051d

"I have consulted a lawyer in London to find out if what we do is legal or not. These are the results:

There is no direct law that forbids what we are doing (Companies like Nokia and Sagem are doing exactly the same: Manufacturing GSM scanners that anyone can buy). These are the legal implications in UK:

   1. Security Research in general is not forbidden.
   2. Designing a GSM receiver is ALLOWED (Nokia does it. Sagem does it).
   3. Publishing the design/research is ALLOWED.
   4. Receiving GSM signals is ALLOWED.
   5. Decoding (e.g. cracking) your own GSM signals is ALLOWED
   6. Decoding somebodys else GSM signals is NOT allowed (DANGER).
7. Setting up a baby cell is allowed if you aquire a license (Any bank building in Canary Warf/London runs its own GSM baby cell).

The bottom line is: Publishing the research is ok. As long as you receive your own traffic and only send after you got the license you are on good ground.

This is based on UK law. European law is similiar (if not more relaxed). USA law might be completly different and I highly advice to check with a lawyer. If you do so please let me know the results."