True enough, however I don't know if I agree that this should be considered illegal.

If you post an unencrypted message on a billboard anyone that has the equipment (eyes, camera, etc) and comes within range of the reflected light waves has access to that information. If you send an unencrypted message over radio waves, anyone that has the equipment has access to the information. I don't see how anyone can say there is a real difference between the two. Saying the pager has a number (or some other identifier) is to me the same thing as saying that the billboard has "To Slashdot user 695572" posted at the top. It doesn't stop anyone from reading it and it certainly shouldn't be considered criminal if someone did.

I do believe that things with dedicated lines should have an expected level of privacy (such as a phone) simply because to intercept them would require an active attempt to do so. Unencrypted communication that can be passively gathered should not have this same expected level of privacy.

Disclaimer: I am in no way an expert in pagers or radio communications, so I want to apologize if I have any misunderstandings about how these items work.

I believe that half the reason the people who make these shows put any tech in at all is to explain away something that would normally be too complex for the average viewer. Face it the people that these are designed for donâ(TM)t want to think. They want to be spoon-fed the story in such a way that they never have to even try to figure out what is actually happening. Anyone that has worked in an IT support roll for very long understands that most people think it is magic anyhow. All these movies and shows do is reinforce the image that technology == magic.

Vvall