The law in the US is rather strange. In most states, audiotaping
is restricted but videotaping is not. Taping phone conversations
varies among states: California, for example, requires the consent
of both parties, while DC and other jurisdictions have the correct
rule that permission of only one participant is needed. Cellular
and cordless phones can be tapped and the evidence used against the
one using the cordless (i.e., you can't use your own cordless to
call a buddy and tape /him/, because he might have a land line and
therefore an expectation of privacy).
Clandestine video cameras ("nannycams") are big business, and are
generally legal. Even when they can't be used as evidence in court,
they can be used as grounds for firing or made public.
-- Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html> "All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past, are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC