US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

     626A.03 Manufacture, distribution, possession, and 
  advertising of wire or oral communication intercepting devices 
  prohibited. 

    Subdivision 1.    Acts; penalties.  Except as otherwise 
 specifically provided 
 in this chapter, any person who intentionally 

    (a) manufactures, assembles, possesses, or sells any 
 electronic, mechanical, or other device, knowing or having 
 reason to know that the design of such device renders it 
 primarily useful for the purpose of the surreptitious 
 interception of wire, electronic, or oral communications; 

    (b) places in any newspaper, magazine, handbill, or other 
 publication any advertisement of 

    (i) any electronic, mechanical, or other device knowing or 
 having reason to know that the design of such device renders it 
 primarily useful for the purpose of the surreptitious 
 interception of wire, electronic, or oral communications; or 

    (ii) any other electronic, mechanical, or other device, 
 where such advertisement promotes the use of such device for the 
 purposes of the surreptitious interception of wire, electronic, 
 or oral communications, shall be fined not more than $20,000 or 
 imprisoned not more than five years, or both. 

    Subd. 2.    Offenses.  It is not unlawful under this section for 

    (a) a provider of wire or electronic communications service 
 or an officer, agent or employee of, or a person under contract 
 with, a provider, in the normal course of the business of 
 providing that wire or electronic communications service, or 

    (b) an officer, agent, or employee of, or a person under 
 contract with, the United States, a state, or a political 
 subdivision thereof, in the normal course of the activities of 
 the United States, a state, or a political subdivision thereof, 
 to manufacture, assemble, possess, or sell any electronic, 
 mechanical, or other device knowing or having reason to know 
 that the design of such device renders it primarily useful for 
 the purpose of the surreptitious interception of wire, 
 electronic, or oral communication.  

    HIST: 1969 c 953 s 3; 1984 c 628 art 3 s 11; 1988 c 577 s 
 19,20,62; 1989 c 336 art 2 s 8; 1991 c 199 art 2 s 1 

Copyright 2005 by the Office of Revisor of Statutes, State of Minnesota.