united-states radio
US: Is it legal to jam radio/cell communications if entirely confined to your own private property?
<p>In the US, is it legal to jam radio/cell communications if such jamming is entirely confined to your own private property? And does it matter whether you are in a building or not?</p>

<p>Imagine now that you have constructed a Faraday cage on your property so that external radio/cell signals cannot enter and internal radio/cell signals cannot exit. If you are inside the Faraday cage, is it legal or illegal to operate a radio/cell jammer?</p>

<p>These questions are intended to ask about the legality of a private citizen doing this without knowledge or approval by any governmental authority. If the jurisdiction typically matters let's say New York, New York, USA.</p>

<p>Yes, if it works. <a href="https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-04-29/pdf/2013-08528.pdf" rel="noreferrer">FCC regulations</a> allow operation of interfering equipment (for tests and experiment) provided the interference is fully contained in a Faraday cage. You must still "comply with the general prohibition against causing harmful interference to other spectrum users".</p>

<p><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/333" rel="nofollow">No.</a> It is a criminal offense, punishable by up to 1 year in jail or up to a $10,000 fine (plus forfeitures) for a first offense, and up to two years in prison or up to a $10,000 fine (plus forfeitures) for a second or subsequent offense. </p>

<p>I am not a lawyer, but probably. Many companies (antenna makers, test equipment makers, etc) effectively do exactly that in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anechoic_chamber" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anechoic_chamber</a>. As long as your anechoic chamber has no leakage, you can probably do anything you want in it from an RF perspective. </p>
