18 U.S.C. § 1367
Section 1367 · Interference with the operation of a satellite
This is § 303 of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 39 court decisions — leading case Saldana v. State (1993)
Most recently applied in 296 F. Supp. 3d 377 - Saintcome v. Tully (November 2017)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Whoever, without the authority of the satellite operator, intentionally or maliciously interferes with the authorized operation of a communications or weather satellite or obstructs or hinders any satellite transmission shall be fined in accordance with this title or imprisoned not more than ten years or both.
(b) This section does not prohibit any lawfully authorized investigative, protective, or intelligence activity of a law enforcement agency or of an intelligence agency of the United States.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Effective Date
Section effective 90 days after Oct. 21, 1986, and, in case of conduct pursuant to court order or extension, applicable only with respect to court orders and extensions made after such date, with special rule for State authorizations of interceptions, see section 302 of Pub. L. 99–508, set out as a note under section 3121 of this title.