Unfortunately this feed will need to come down soon. We were notified by the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which is the regulator for the United Kingdom telecommunications and wireless communications services, that this is indeed an illegal activity in the U.K.
While LiveATC bears no legal responsibility for complying with the laws of other countries, we in no way wish to condone the breaking of laws by anyone in our wonderful community. I will be informing the feeders of the U.K. feeds today of the request from Ofcom.
For those interested, this is the official stance and a direct quote from the U.K. representative:
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"I realise that this is seen as a harmless hobby by enthusiasts but the fact remains that sending aeronautical messages, for example, over the internet is an offence under section 5(b)(ii) of the UK Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 which states that:
"any person who - except in the course of legal proceedings or for the purpose of any report thereof, discloses any information as to the contents sender or addressee of any such message, being information which would not have come to his knowledge but for the use of wireless telegraphy apparatus by him or by another person".
So in other words, if a person sends radio messages over the internet which he is not authorised to receive, he committs an offence by disclosing those messages.
I hope this clarifies the position."
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So there you have it. I suspect strongly that in 1949 the forefathers in the U.K. were thinking of war-time and perhaps police or other sensitive communications when they wrote this law. The fact that the law exists and has been extended, by interpretation, to air traffic control communications is, well, downright silly. But the law is the law.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
-Dave