District of Columbia § 23-543 Possession, sale, distribution, manufacture, assembly, and advertising of wire or oral communication intercepting devices prohibited.

District of Columbia Statutes

§ 23-543 — Possession, sale, distribution, manufacture, assembly, and advertising of wire or oral communication intercepting devices prohibited.

District of Columbia § 23-543

Title 23Criminal Procedure. [Enacted title]

Ch. 5Warrants and Arrests.

Subch. IIIWire Interception and Interception of Oral Communications.

This text of District of Columbia § 23-543 (Possession, sale, distribution, manufacture, assembly, and advertising of wire or oral communication intercepting devices prohibited.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

D.C. Code § 23-543 (2026).

Text

(a)Except as otherwise specifically provided in subsection (b) of this section, any person who in the District of Columbia —

(1)willfully possesses, sells, distributes, manufactures, or assembles an intercepting device, the design of which renders it primarily useful for the purpose of the surreptitious interception of a wire or oral communication; or

(2)willfully places in any newspaper, magazine, handbill, or other publication any advertisement of —

(A)any intercepting device, the design of which renders it primarily useful for the purpose of the surreptitious interception of a wire or oral communication; or

(B)any intercepting device where such advertisement promotes the use of such device for the purpose of the surreptitious interception of a wire or oral communica

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(a) Except as otherwise specifically provided in subsection (b) of this section, any person who in the District of Columbia —

(1) willfully possesses, sells, distributes, manufactures, or assembles an intercepting device, the design of which renders it primarily useful for the purpose of the surreptitious interception of a wire or oral communication; or

(2) willfully places in any newspaper, magazine, handbill, or other publication any advertisement of —

(A) any intercepting device, the design of which renders it primarily useful for the purpose of the surreptitious interception of a wire or oral communication; or

(B) any intercepting device where such advertisement promotes the use of such device for the purpose of the surreptitious interception of a wire or oral communication;

(b) It shall not be unlawful under this section for —

(1) a communication common carrier or an officer, agent, or employee of, or a person under contract with a communication common carrier, in the usual course of the communication common carrier’s business; or

(2) a person under contract with the Government of the United States, a State or a political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia, or an officer, agent, or employee of the Government of the United States, a State or a political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia;