Digital Selective Calling (DSC) is causing serious problems for Search and Rescue (SAR) providers. Administrations must seriously consider the humanitarian and legal implications of continuing the implementation of DSC. They may be in violation of the Safety of Life at Sea Convention, the International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue, 1979, and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982, by knowingly implementing communications technology that may jeopardize lives at sea even though the primary intent of DSC is to establish a suitable distress alerting method. States may very well open themselves to legal liability if loss of life or environmental damage can be linked in any way to the known faults of DSC.