As used in this subtitle the following terms have the meanings
indicated:
(1) "Wire communication" means any aural transfer made in whole or in
part through the use of facilities for the transmission of
communications by the aid of wire, cable, or other like connection
between the point of origin and the point of reception (including the
use of a connection in a switching station) furnished or operated by
any person licensed to engage in providing or operating such facilities
for the transmission of communications.
(2) (i) "Oral communication" means any conversation or words spoken to or
by any person in private conversation.
(ii) "Oral communication" does not include any electronic communication.
(3) "Intercept" means the aural or other acquisition of the contents of
any wire, electronic, or oral communication through the use of any
electronic, mechanical, or other device.
(4) "Electronic, mechanical, or other device" means any device or
electronic communication other than:
(i) Any telephone or telegraph instrument, equipment or other facility for
the transmission of electronic communications, or any component
thereof, (a) furnished to the subscriber or user by a provider of wire
or electronic communication service in the ordinary course of its
business and being used by the subscriber or user in the ordinary
course of its business or furnished by the subscriber or user for
connection to the facilities of the service and used in the ordinary
course of its business; or (b) being used by a communications common
carrier in the ordinary course of its business, or by an investigative
or law enforcement officer in the ordinary course of his duties; or
(ii) A hearing aid or similar device being used to correct subnormal hearing
to not better than normal.
(5) "Person" means any employee or agent of this State or a political
subdivision thereof, and any individual, partnership, association,
joint stock company, trust, or corporation.
(6) "Investigative or law enforcement officer" means any officer of
this State or a political subdivision of this State, who is empowered
by law to conduct investigations of or to make arrests for offenses
enumerated in this subtitle, any sworn law enforcement officer of the
federal government or of any other state or a political subdivision of
another state, working with and under the direction of an investigative
or law enforcement officer of this State or a political subdivision of
this State, and any attorney authorized by law to prosecute or
participate in the prosecution of such offenses.
(7) "Contents", when used with respect to any wire, oral, or electronic
communication, includes any information concerning the identity of the
parties to the communication or the existence, substance, purport, or
meaning of that communication.
(8) "Judge of competent jurisdiction" means a judge of any circuit
court within the State having jurisdiction over the offense under
investigation.
(9) "Communications common carrier" means any person engaged as a
common carrier for hire in the transmission of wire or electronic
communications.
(10) "Aggrieved person" means a person who was a party to any
intercepted wire, oral, or electronic communication or a person against
whom the interception was directed.
(11) (i) "Electronic communication" means any transfer of signs, signals,
writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature
transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic,
photoelectronic, or photooptical system.
(ii) "Electronic communication" does not include:
1. The radio portion of a cordless telephone communication that is
transmitted between the cordless telephone handset and the base unit;
2. Any wire or oral communication;
3. Any communication made through a tone-only paging device; or
4. Any communication from a tracking device.
(12) "User" means any person or entity that:
(i) Uses an electronic communication service; and
(ii) Is duly authorized by the provider of the service to engage in that
use.
(13) "Electronic communications system" means any wire, radio,
electromagnetic, photooptical, or photoelectronic facilities for the
transmission of wire or electronic communications, and any computer
facilities or related electronic equipment for the electronic storage
of electronic communications.
(14) "Electronic communication service" means any service that provides
to users of the service the ability to send or receive wire or
electronic communications.
(15) "Readily accessible to the general public" means, with respect to a
radio communication, that the communication is not:
(i) Scrambled or encrypted;
(ii) Transmitted using modulation techniques the essential parameters of
which have been withheld from the public with the intention of
preserving the privacy of the communication; or
(iii) Except for tone-only paging device communications, transmitted over
frequencies reserved for private use and licensed for private use under
federal or State law.
(16) "Electronic storage" means:
(i) Any temporary, intermediate storage of a wire or electronic
communication incidental to the electronic transmission of the
communication; and
(ii) Any storage of a wire or electronic communication by an electronic
communication service for purposes of backup protection of the
communication.
(17) "Aural transfer" means a transfer containing the human voice at any
point between and including the point of origin and the point of
reception.
(18) "Telephone solicitation theft" means conduct of a person that:
(i) Constitutes the offense of theft or attempted theft; and
(ii) Involves the use of a telephone to solicit the payment of money.
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