https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/104642/sticker-on-caption-phone-says-that-using-the-captions-can-be-illegal-why Skip to main content Stack Exchange Network Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Visit Stack Exchange [ ] Loading... 1. + Tour Start here for a quick overview of the site + Help Center Detailed answers to any questions you might have + Meta Discuss the workings and policies of this site + About Us Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products 2. 3. current community + Law help chat + Law Meta your communities Sign up or log in to customize your list. more stack exchange communities company blog 4. 5. Log in 6. Sign up Law 1. 1. Home 2. Questions 3. Tags 4. 5. Users 6. Unanswered 2. Teams Now available on Stack Overflow for Teams! AI features where you work: search, IDE, and chat. Learn more Explore Teams 3. Teams 4. Ask questions, find answers and collaborate at work with Stack Overflow for Teams. Explore Teams Teams Q&A for work Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. Learn more about Teams Sticker on caption phone says that using the captions can be illegal. Why? Ask Question Asked 2 days ago Modified today Viewed 17k times 26 I was testing donated electronics at a local non-profit, to decide what to put on the shelves and what to recycle, when I found this: Federal law prohibits anyone but registered users with hearing loss from using this device with Captions On. I can understand the loudness warning on the ear end of the handset, but I'm puzzled as to why captioning a phone call would be illegal if you didn't need it. What were the circumstances under which that prohibition came about? What is it trying to prevent? For example, is the prohibition based on concerns around eavesdropping or wiretapping? Is the captioning technology licensed under a restrictive license that permits its use only as a disability accommodation? Is the purchase cost of the device subsidized under some disability benefit program? I've seen commercials for captioned phones, that are clearly not targeting me, but as far as I can tell, none of them mentioned that it's actually illegal for me to use their product for its advertised function. * united-states * disabilities * phonecall * communications-law Share Improve this question Follow edited 9 hours ago Robert Columbia's user avatar Robert Columbia 3,82744 gold badges2323 silver badges4747 bronze badges asked 2 days ago AaronD's user avatar AaronDAaronD 45711 gold badge44 silver badges77 bronze badges 7 * 6 My first guess would be concerns about an aggressive interpretation of wiretapping laws. - bdb484 Commented 2 days ago * 3 Or maybe copyright infringement. The ADA may allow this to be fair use for deaf people, but others don't have that excuse. - Barmar Commented 2 days ago * 1 Commercials don't tend to care at all about anybody but the target audience, so they're not really a great indicator of anything in this case. - Austin Hemmelgarn Commented yesterday * 1 How old is it- is there a date underneath? In fact, a photo of the bottom showing stickers/labels could be very helpful please. - Criggie Commented yesterday * 1 @Criggie I'll see if I can do that. Some things last forever in that place, others go quick, and it's sometimes surprising which is which. - AaronD Commented 23 hours ago | Show 2 more comments 2 Answers 2 Sorted by: Reset to default [Highest score (default) ] 51 This is the Fed (FCC) saying "I'm paying for this, so I get to determine who uses it." The service costs money. It is not automagic speech to text, but rather there is often (usually?) an actual human typing it in. Carriers front the cost, and then get compensation from the Fed. The Federal govt picks up that cost. They don't want people that don't need it due to hearing loss making use of that service and its associated costs. From the FCC: Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act (b) Availability of telecommunications relay services: the Commission shall ensure that interstate and intrastate telecommunications relay services are available, to the extent possible and in the most efficient manner, to hearing-impaired and speech-impaired individuals in the United States. The Carrier, for compensation from the Fed, has to provide logs of the phone number associated with the service. Each Carrier has their own certification procedure to ensure that the person has a documented need for this service. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-64/ subpart-F 47 CFR SS 64.604(c)(5)(iii)(D)(2)(v)-(vi) (v) Incoming telephone number and IP address (if call originates with an IP-based device) at the time of the call; (vi) Outbound telephone number (if call terminates to a telephone) and IP address (if call terminates to an IP-based device) at the time of call; Share Improve this answer Follow edited yesterday answered 2 days ago WPNSGuy's user avatar WPNSGuyWPNSGuy 1,11411 gold badge44 silver badges1111 bronze badges 1 * Comments have been moved to chat; please do not continue the discussion here. Before posting a comment below this one, please review the purposes of comments. Comments that do not request clarification or suggest improvements usually belong as an answer , on Law Meta, or in Law Chat. Comments continuing discussion may be removed. - feetwet Commented 2 mins ago Add a comment | -3 In many states you need two party consent (consent of both parties in the conversation) to record a conversation. As part of operation of this device, the call must be recorded. If the user doesn't ask for consent to record, it would technically be recording without the legally required consent. Share Improve this answer Follow answered 9 hours ago Charlie's user avatar CharlieCharlie 95 New contributor Charlie is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering. Check out our Code of Conduct. 4 * 2 The warning label doesn't say anything about consent, but states a requirement to be registered as a person with hearing loss to use the captioning. - Robert Columbia Commented 8 hours ago * 1 I understand the other answer. It's possible there's an exception for the consent laws to allow for transcription. - Charlie Commented 4 hours ago * Do you have any indication that is so, or are you just speculating? - Robert Columbia Commented 3 hours ago * I'd expect any consent/privacy/wiretapping problems would be handled by saying the usual words in the call itself "this call may be recorded...". This would work regardless of who was calling. No sticker needed on the sender's end. - Dewi Morgan Commented 2 hours ago Add a comment | You must log in to answer this question. Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged * united-states * disabilities * phonecall * communications-law . Law Stack Exchange is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized advice from a qualified legal practitioner. 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