Rhode Island General Laws Title 11. Criminal Offenses § 11-35-24. Possession, sale, distribution, manufacture and advertising of intercepting device

(a) Any person who willfully and knowingly possesses, sells, distributes, manufactures, assembles, or places in any publication any advertisement of, an intercepting device, the design of which renders it primarily useful for the purpose of the surreptitious interception of a wire or oral communication shall be imprisoned not more than five (5) years and fined not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000);

(b) It shall not be unlawful under this section for a communication common carrier or an officer, agent, or employee of, or a person under contract with, a communication common carrier, in the usual course of the communication common carrier's business, or a person under contract with the United States or a state or a political subdivision of it, or an officer, agent, or employee of a state or a political subdivision of it, to possess, sell, distribute, manufacture, assemble, or advertise any intercepting device, while acting in furtherance of the appropriate activities of the United States or a state or political subdivision of it or a communication common carrier.