Mobile Quest

You can hear almost anything on the Internet these days -- maybe even your own Samsung Blackjack phone conversations.

America Online said recently that it was investigating Internet broadcasts of private mobile phone conversations that were captured with private scanner hardware and streamed out over the world wide web via its Shoutcast service.

Shoutcast lets anyone with an Internet connection deliver any one of dozens of audio feeds of their own choosing. Basement netcasters all over the world have been using MP3 encoded audio streams in order to channel home brewed broadcasts to users of MP3 playback software in real time. This means that Shoutcast can impact Samsung Blackjack users at well – recorded conversations might reveal personal data that users do not want the rest of the world to know, including potential dangerous revelations such as credit card numbers, personal phone numbers, and addresses. 

Indeed, both wireless phone and mobile phone conversations have been heard on the world wide web in recent days. The mobile phone conversations are usually interrupted every couple of minutes as cellular provider companies change the radio frequency of the call.

America Online has said in recent years that they are investigating the thorny issue. American Online ensures its customers constantly that they intend to protect users against unlawful broadcasting of their calls. They try to remove all complaints as soon they receive and investigate them.

Telecommunication laws usually remove Internet service providers from liability for information that is sent through a particular service's network. Legal cases have also established that the provider should be considered as a common carrier. That means that end users, as opposed to the network provider, are liable for illegal or libelous information that is found on the world wide web. This is why broadcasting conversations is not such a good idea! You could end up getting sued – or worse, spending time in jail.

In policy and disclaimer material on the Shoutcast website, Nullsoft, the company responsible for administering Shoutcast, takes a hands off stance on all content that is fed through its site. It states the following disclaimer:

"Nullsoft, Inc. is not responsible for the content of what is broadcast below. Nullsoft, Inc. believes in the First Amendment to the US Constitution and will not review or censure any broadcast. Nullsoft, Inc. maintains no responsibility for the content of any broadcast."

Nullsoft also is famous for its publication of WinAmp, which is also a popular MP3 player for Shoutcast and MP3 files.